Serum or plasma ferritin concentration as an index of iron deficiency and overload

BACKGROUNDReference standard indices of iron deficiency and iron overload are generally invasive, expensive, and can be unpleasant or occasionally risky. Ferritin is an iron storage protein and its concentration in the plasma or serum reflects iron stores; low ferritin indicates iron deficiency, whi...

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Published in:Cochrane database of systematic reviews 2021-05, Vol.5 (5), p.CD011817-CD011817
Main Authors: Garcia-Casal, Maria Nieves, Pasricha, Sant-Rayn, Martinez, Ricardo X, Lopez-Perez, Lucero, Peña-Rosas, Juan Pablo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Child health
Complementary & alternative medicine
Diagnosis
Other reviews managed by the Tobacco Addiction Group
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Summary:BACKGROUNDReference standard indices of iron deficiency and iron overload are generally invasive, expensive, and can be unpleasant or occasionally risky. Ferritin is an iron storage protein and its concentration in the plasma or serum reflects iron stores; low ferritin indicates iron deficiency, while elevated ferritin reflects risk of iron overload. However, ferritin is also an acute-phase protein and its levels are elevated in inflammation and infection. The use of ferritin as a diagnostic test of iron deficiency and overload is a common clinical practice. OBJECTIVESTo determine the diagnostic accuracy of ferritin concentrations (serum or plasma) for detecting iron deficiency and risk of iron overload in primary and secondary iron-loading syndromes. SEARCH METHODSWe searched the following databases (10 June 2020): DARE (Cochrane Library) Issue 2 of 4 2015, HTA (Cochrane Library) Issue 4 of 4 2016, CENTRAL (Cochrane Library) Issue 6 of 12 2020, MEDLINE (OVID) 1946 to 9 June 2020, Embase (OVID) 1947 to week 23 2020, CINAHL (Ebsco) 1982 to June 2020, Web of Science (ISI) SCI, SSCI, CPCI-exp & CPCI-SSH to June 2020, POPLINE 16/8/18, Open Grey (10/6/20), TRoPHI (10/6/20), Bibliomap (10/6/20), IBECS (10/6/20), SCIELO (10/6/20), Global Index Medicus (10/6/20) AIM, IMSEAR, WPRIM, IMEMR, LILACS (10/6/20), PAHO (10/6/20), WHOLIS 10/6/20, IndMED (16/8/18) and Native Health Research Database (10/6/20). We also searched two trials registers and contacted relevant organisations for unpublished studies. SELECTION CRITERIAWe included all study designs seeking to evaluate serum or plasma ferritin concentrations measured by any current or previously available quantitative assay as an index of iron status in individuals of any age, sex, clinical and physiological status from any country. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSISWe followed standard Cochrane methods. We designed the data extraction form to record results for ferritin concentration as the index test, and bone marrow iron content for iron deficiency and liver iron content for iron overload as the reference standards. Two other authors further extracted and validated the number of true positive, true negative, false positive, false negative cases, and extracted or derived the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values for each threshold presented for iron deficiency and iron overload in included studies. We assessed risk of bias and applicability using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy St
ISSN:1469-493X
DOI:10.1002/14651858.CD011817.pub2