Abstract
In rHuEPO therapy for renal anemia, assessment of systemic iron deficiency is essential for maintaining clinical efficacy and determination of optimal rHuEPO dosing.
The serum ferritin level (S-Ft) has been widely acknowledged to be an indicator of bodily iron stores, but it is currently being proposed that measurement of the erythrocyte ferritin content (RBC-Ft) is more valuable and a more accurate real-time marker, of functional iron storage, in some hematological diseases.
In this study, we measured RBC-Ft in 16 normal subjects (controls) and 47 patients on maintenance hemodialysis. The mean value for RBC-Ft was 25.0±16.6ag/cell in patients and 25.6±17.3ag/cell in healthy controls. Although S-Ft and RBC-Ft failed to correlate significantly with the serum iron (S-Fe) value, a significant correlation between increased hemoglobin and variations in RBC-Ft, after rHuEPO therapy, was recognized (r=0.461, p<0.05).
Based on these results, we conclude that measurement of RBC-Ft could be of value in assessing functional systemic iron stores in maintenance hemodialysis patients, who comprise the vast majority of candidates for rHuEPO therapy.
