METHODS: We studied 1,064 (48.5 % female) healthy children of the entire pediatric age spectrum to determine reference values and percentiles for sTfR and the ratio of sTfR to log-ferritin (sTfR-F index) using a standard immunoturbidimetric assay.
RESULTS: Soluble TfR levels were highly age-specific, with a peak in infancy and a decline in adulthood, whereas the sTfR-F index was a rather constant parameter. There were positive linear relationships for sTfR with hemoglobin (Hb) (p=0.008) and transferrin (females p<0.001; males p=0.003). A negative association was observed between sTfR and ferritin in females (p<0.0001) and for transferrin saturation and mean corpuscular volume (MCV) in both sexes (both p<0.0001). We found a positive relationship between sTfR and body height, body mass index (BMI) and inflammatory markers (CrP p<0.0001; WBC p=0.0172), while sTfR-F index was not affected by inflammation.
CONCLUSIONS: Soluble TfR values appear to reflect the activity of infant erythropoiesis and to be modulated by inflammation and iron deficiency even in a healthy cohort.
方法:我们研究了整个儿科年龄段的1,064名(48.5%女性)健康儿童,以确定sTfR的参考值和百分位数以及sTfR与对数铁蛋白的比率(sTfR-F指数)使用标准免疫比浊法测定。
结果:可溶性TfR水平高度因年龄而异,婴儿期达到顶峰,成年期下降,而sTfR-F指数是一个相当恒定的参数。sTfR与血红蛋白(Hb)(p=0.008)和转铁蛋白(女性p<0.001;男性p=0.003)呈正线性关系。在女性中,sTfR和铁蛋白(p<0.0001)与转铁蛋白饱和度和平均红细胞体积(MCV)之间呈负相关(均p<0.0001)。我们发现sTfR和身高之间存在正相关关系,体重指数(BMI)和炎症标志物(CrPp<0.0001;WBCp=0.0172),而sTfR-F指数不受炎症的影响。
结论:即使在健康队列中,可溶性TfR值似乎也反映了婴儿红细胞生成的活性,并受到炎症和铁缺乏的调节。