The common laboratory tests for evaluating iron status are serum iron, total iron-binding capacity, transferrin saturation, and ferritin (1). However, ferritin is one of the acute phase reactants, and its concentration is influenced by various clinical conditions (2). Even mild upper respiratory infections are associated with an increase in serum ferritin (3). Examination of stainable iron in bone marrow is the gold standard for iron depletion; however, this procedure is invasive and is not feasible for the evaluation of all children suspected of iron deficiency. Measurement of the soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) recently has been introduced as a new diagnostic tool for the evaluation of iron status (2)(4). The sTfR concentration reflects the functional iron status of the body and the rate of erythropoiesis in bone marrow (4). Measurement of sTfR is valuable in physiologic conditions in which iron stores are relatively depleted, and such situations are encountered regularly in children and adolescents (5)(6).
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Choi et al. (1999) studied this question.
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