AbstractThe soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) distinguishes iron deficiency anemia from other types of anemia. Refractory iron deficiency anemia is often the onset symptom in malabsorption-induced celiac disease. We evaluated whether sTfR levels distinguish celiac disease-associated iron deficiency anemia from iron deficiency anemia of other origin. To this aim we measured sTfR and ferritin levels and their ratio (the sTfR/ferritin index) and other hematological parameters in 42 anemic children (20 with and 22 without celiac disease) vs. 22 non-anemic children with celiac disease and 31 healthy controls (age range 4–12years). Hemoglobin parameters, mean cell volume, and serum iron and ferritin levels were decreased to a similar extent in the anemic patients (celiac and non-celiac). The sTfR level in non-anemic celiac patients was similar to that of normal controls (1.7±0.35mg/L), whereas it was significantly increased in non-celiac and celiac anemic patients (2.2±0.5mg/L, p<0.05 and 2.7±1.2mg/L, p<0.001, respectively). The sTfR/ferritin index was also increased more in the anemic celiac patients (mean 4.4, range 1.5–12.0) than in anemic non-celiac children (mean 2.6, range 1.4–4.0) compared with non-anemic children (mean 1.2, range 0.7–2.0). Differences were more pronounced when ferritin was <5ng/mL. Thus, the sTfR/ferritin index may be a predictive measure in discriminating anemic patients with celiac disease from those without celiac disease.
Iron deficiency anemia in celiac disease
