Possibility of non-invasive screening with urine ferritin value for iron deficiency in college athletes

Abstract

Iron deficiency in athletes induces negative effects on their athletic performances. The present study aimed to examine a possibility of non-invasive screening with urine ferritin value for iron deficiency by examining its association with serum ferritin value. A group of 30 male college soccer players,13 male endurance runners, 22 female volleyball players, and 9 female long distance runners voluntarily participated in this study. Blood samples were collected before breakfast. The urinary samples were collected to the special tube in the morning and analyzed by ELISA in accordance with the manufacture’s specification. The urinary ferritin value was significantly correlated with serum ferritin value (r=0.32, p<0.05). In addition, the corresponding association was improved in athletes whose urinary ferritin values were less than 2314 ng/gCre (n=52) (r=0.49, p<0.05). In each of male and female athletes, the results on the event-related differences in urinary ferritin had a similar trend as those on serum ferritin. In future studies, further testing should be accomplished using larger numbers of athletes for use the urine ferritin as non-invasive screening iron deficiency in athletes.