Stages of chronic kidney disease and soluble Transferrin Receptor (sTfR), Ferritin, ratio

Faiza Alam
Syeda Sadia Fatima, Aga Khan University
Sabeela Noor
Ahmed Bilal
Rehana Rehman

Abstract

Objective: To assess the ratio of soluble transferrin receptor to ferritin in different stages of chronic kidney disease.Methods: This case-control study was conducted at the Aga Khan University Hospital and the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi, from January to September 2014, and comprised chronic kidney disease patients and healthy controls. Group 1 comprised controls, whereas groups 2, 3 and 4 had patients based on their mean glomerular filtration rate. SPSS 19 was used for data analysis.Results: Of the 170 participants, 126(74.1%) were cases and 44(25.9%) were controls. The overall mean age was 55.87±3.48 years and the mean body mass index was 24.25±2.9 kg/m2. Decreased levels of iron and haemoglobin were observed in cases compared to controls (p<0.001), while high serum ferritin was seen in cases compared to the controls (p<0.001). Correspondingly, the soluble transferrin receptor-to-ferritin ratio was significantly decreased in groups 2, 3 and 4 (p<0.001).CONCLUSIONS: The ratio of soluble transferrin receptor to ferritin was lower in higher stages of chronic kidney disease.