Last updated on 12th Sep 2022 - By Dwayne Michaels

Why is my ferritin high or low?

The ferritin results are interpreted along with the results for uibc, tibc, serum iron, transferrin saturation and transferrin to help diagnose disease severity. So let's know about all these tests and let's try to know the real cause of your disease.

After reading this article thoroughly you will be able to self-diagnose your disease

Before understanding these iron tests, let's look at some of the causes of abnormal iron panel.

Some of the causes of abnormal iron panel are:

• Chronic Illness
• Hemochromatosis
• Iron Deficiency
• Hemosiderosis
• Sideroblastic Anemia
• Hemolytic Anemia
• Iron Poisoning
• Liver disease

If you need our help diagnosing the severity of your illness and want to get your iron panel back to normal, you can upload your blood report here. Upload blood test report now

Serum iron:

Serum iron is a medical laboratory test that measures the amount of circulating iron that is bound to transferrin (90%) and serum ferritin (10%). Clinicians order this laboratory test when they are concerned about iron deficiency, which can cause anemia and other problems.

The test for serum iron uses blood drawn from veins to measure the iron ions that are bound to transferrin and circulating in the blood. This test should be done after 12 hours of fasting.

Normal reference ranges are:

Men: 65 to 176 μg/dL

Women: 50 to 170 μg/dL

Newborns: 100 to 250 μg/dL

Children: 50 to 120 μg/dL

Iron is an essential nutrient that, among other functions, is needed in small quantities to help form normal red blood cells (RBCs). The body cannot produce iron and must absorb it from the foods we eat or from supplements.

Iron is normally absorbed from food in the small intestine and transported throughout the body by binding to transferrin, a protein produced by the liver. In healthy people, most of the iron transported is incorporated into the production of red blood cell hemoglobin

Insufficient levels of circulating and stored iron may eventually lead to iron-deficiency anemia (decreased hemoglobin and hematocrit, smaller and paler red cells). In the early stage of iron deficiency, no physical effects are usually seen and the amount of iron stored may be significantly depleted before any signs or symptoms of iron deficiency develop.

If the iron level is high, the TIBC, UIBC and ferritin are normal and the person has a clinical history consistent with iron overdose, then it is likely that the person has iron poisoning. Iron poisoning occurs when a large dose of iron is taken all at once or over a short period of time. Iron poisoning in children is almost always acute, occurring in children who ingest their parents' iron supplements. In some cases, acute iron poisoning can be fatal.

Ferritin:

Ferritin is a protein that contains iron and is the primary form of iron stored inside of cells. Serum ferritin levels are measured in medical laboratories as part of the iron studies workup for iron-deficiency anemia.

The ferritin levels measured usually have a direct correlation with the total amount of iron stored in the body. However, ferritin levels may be artificially high in cases of anemia of chronic disease where ferritin is elevated in its capacity as an inflammatory acute phase protein and not as a marker for iron overload.

A normal ferritin blood level, referred to as the reference interval is determined by many testing laboratories. The ranges for ferritin can vary between laboratories but typical ranges would be between 30 and 300 ng/mL (=g/L) for males, and 30160 ng/mL (=μg/L) for females. A value less than 50 is considered as iron deficiency.

If the ferritin level is low, there is a risk for lack of iron, which could lead to anemia or iron deficiency without anemia.

The people who typically need iron supplements are pregnant women and those with documented iron deficiency. Young women who become anemic due to poor dietary intake and have chronic and/or excessive loss of blood during their menstrual cycle may require iron supplements. People should not take iron supplements before talking to their healthcare practitioner as excess iron can cause chronic iron overload.

Low ferritin may also indicate hypothyroidism, vitamin C deficiency or celiac disease.

Low serum ferritin levels are seen in some patients with restless legs syndrome, not necessarily related to anemia, but perhaps due to low iron stores short of anemia.

If ferritin is high, there is iron in excess or else there is an acute inflammatory reaction in which ferritin is mobilized without iron excess. For example, ferritins may be high in infection without signaling body iron overload.

Ferritin is also used as a marker for iron overload disorders, such as hemochromatosis or hemosiderosis. Adult-onset Still's disease, some porphyrias, and hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis/macrophage activation syndrome are diseases in which the ferritin level may be abnormally raised.

As ferritin is also an acute-phase reactant, it is often elevated in the course of disease. A normal C-reactive protein can be used to exclude elevated ferritin caused by acute phase reactions.

Transferrin:

Transferrin is the main protein in the blood that binds to iron and transports it throughout the body. An increased plasma transferrin level is often seen in patients with iron deficiency anemia, during pregnancy, and with the use of oral contraceptives

TIBC measures the total amount of iron that can be bound by proteins in the blood. Since transferrin is the primary iron-binding protein, the TIBC test is a good indirect measurement of transferrin availability—the amount of transferrin that is available to bind to iron.

When plasma transferrin levels rise, there is a reciprocal decrease in percent transferrin iron saturation, and a corresponding increase in total iron binding capacity in iron deficient states

An example reference range for transferrin is 204360 mg/dL. Laboratory test results should always be interpreted using the reference range provided by the laboratory that performed the test.

A high transferrin level may indicate an iron deficiency anemia. Levels of serum iron and total iron binding capacity (TIBC) are used in conjunction with transferrin to specify any abnormality.

TIBC:

Total iron-binding capacity (TIBC) or sometimes transferrin iron-binding capacity is a medical laboratory test that measures the blood's capacity to bind iron with transferrin.

Taken together with serum iron and percent transferrin saturation clinicians usually perform this test when they are concerned about anemia, iron deficiency or iron deficiency anemia.

Laboratories often use different units of measurement and "normal ranges" may vary by population and the laboratory techniques used. Look at the individual laboratory reference values to interpret a specific test (for instance, your own). Example reference ranges are:

TIBC: 250–370 μg/dL (45-66 mol/L)

μg/dL = micrograms per deciliter; μmol/L = micromoles per litre.

Transferrin saturation:

Transferrin saturation (TS), measured as a percentage, is a medical laboratory value. It is the value of serum iron divided by the total iron-binding capacity of the available transferrin.

For instance, a value of 15% means that 15% of iron-binding sites of transferrin are being occupied by iron.

Normal values are 15% to 50%. In severe cases of iron-deficiency and anemia, this number may fall below 10%.

A low transferrin saturation is a common indicator of iron deficiency anemia whereas a high transferrin saturation may indicate iron overload or hemochromatosis.

Many other health conditions can cause high or low levels of transferrin. The results of these tests, and other tests, can help your healthcare provider determine the cause of your symptoms.

UIBC:

This test determines the reserve capacity of transferrin, i.e., the portion of transferrin that has not yet been saturated with iron.

Unsaturated iron-binding capacity (UIBC) is a blood test most frequently used along with a serum iron test and a total iron-binding capacity test (TIBC) to evaluate people suspected of having either iron deficiency or iron overload.

The TIBC is the total iron binding capacity. It equals UIBC plus the serum iron measurement. Some laboratories measure UIBC, some measure TIBC, and some measure transferrin. This test helps your doctor know how well that protein can carry iron in the blood.

If you need our help diagnosing the severity of your illness and want to get your iron panel back to normal, you can upload your blood report here. Upload blood test report now