Ferritin is a protein widely distributed in all living organisms, including bacteria, algae, higher plants, animals, and humans. Ferritin stores iron in our cells, which indirectly measures the amount of iron in our body. Iron is essential for healthy red blood cells, muscles, bone marrow, and organs.
Clinical Significance of Ferritin and Interpretation
Its clinical significance lies in its role in diagnosing and managing diseases, including:
• Hemochromatosis- having too much iron in your body, which is also called iron overload.
• Iron deficiency, also called anemia, is a condition in which your body has too few red blood cells.
• Liver diseases, which include cirrhosis, in which a considerable amount of the ferritin is stored in the liver.
Restless leg syndrome is a tingling or burning feeling in your legs that may be caused by a lack of iron.
• AOSD, also called adult-onset Still disease, is an uncommon disease that causes joint pain, fever, arthritis, and rash, with high ferritin levels.
• Tracking chronic conditions that may affect your levels of iron, such as cancer, kidney disease, and autoimmune diseases.
• Hemophagocytic syndrome, also known as macrophage activation syndrome or lymph histiocytic syndrome, is a heterogeneous group of disorders with a final common pathway consisting of hypertriglyceridemia, hyperferritinemia, pancytopenia, and multiple organ failure, which is highly fatal.
• Parkinson’s disease is also linked to abnormalities in ferritin level.
Different Diagnostic ways to test for Ferritin level
A doctor may recommend a ferritin test to measure ferritin levels in the blood.
Serum Ferritin Level – Normal range for Ferritin level in men is 24 to 336 micrograms per liter, and in women is 11 to 307 micrograms per liter.
Commonly used methods to detect Ferritin Level in laboratories include electrochemiluminescence (ECLIA), immunoturbidimetric method, Chemiluminescence Immunoassay (CLIA), Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA), and Radioimmunoassay (RIA).
The detection of Ferritin using the most advanced Chemiluminescence Immunoassay enables quantitative measurement of Ferritin levels in human serum/plasma samples, aiding in monitoring the recurrence and metastasis of malignant tumors.
Conclusion
The ferritin test is an important diagnostic tool for assessing iron stores in the body. It is used to evaluate iron levels present in the human body. Higher ferritin levels can indicate inflammation in the body, while low ferritin levels indicate iron deficiency in human beings. Overall, the serum ferritin test is the most commonly used method for measuring ferritin levels, offering a simple, reliable way to assess iron status.pecificity require careful understanding in interpretation ,in combination with other diagnostic tools and clinical factors. It also results in enhanced cancer care by providing more accurate, non-invasive, and personalized treatment options.
