PMID: 26339443Sep 5, 2015Paper

An unusual case of iron deficiency anemia is associated with extremely low level of transferrin receptor

International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Pathology
Shuangying HaoKuanyu Li

Abstract

A case study of a female patient, diagnosed with iron deficiency anemia, was unresponsive to oral iron treatment and only partially responsive to parenteral iron therapy, a clinical profile resembling the iron-refractory iron deficiency anemia (IRIDA) disorder. However, the patient failed to exhibit microcytic phenotype, one of the IRIDA hallmarks. Biochemical assays revealed that serum iron, hepcidin, interluekin 6, and transferrin saturation were within the normal range of references or were comparable to her non-anemic offspring. Iron contents in serum and red blood cells and hemoglobin levels were measured, which confirmed the partial improvement of anemia after parenteral iron therapy. Strikingly, serum transferrin receptor in patient was almost undetectable, reflecting the very low activity of bone-marrow erythropoiesis. Our data demonstrate that this is not a case of systemic iron deficiency, but rather cellular iron deficit due to the low level of transferrin receptor, particularly in erythroid tissue.

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Anemia

Anemia develops when your blood lacks enough healthy red blood cells. Anemia of inflammation (AI, also called anemia of chronic disease) is a common, typically normocytic, normochromic anemia that is caused by an underlying inflammatory disease. Here is the latest research on anemia.