Iron question

[Diana66]

So is the Transferrin important regarding tx?
If the Ferritin is the one to look at means that I am prety normal I guess
Why do they do all 4 of them if it is not relevant?

29 Sep 2012, Iron Studies
Serum Iron: 13 umol/L ( 10 - 30 )
Transferrin: 3.5 g/L ( 1.7 - 3.4 )      H
Transferrin Saturation: 0.15 ( 0.15 - 0.50 )
Ferritin: 77 ug/L ( 20 - 380 )
Comment: Ferritin is the test of choice to confirm iron deficiency - transferrin saturation is not indicated. Transferrin saturation is only required to investigate iron overload.

[nonsensical]

The treatment drugs can and do cause ferritin levels to rise during treatment.  Ribavirin kills red blood cells, red blood cells contain iron (ferritin) and the liver sweeps up all the iron (ferritin) that is left when a red blood cell dies and stores it away for another day.

So, as a result of treatment lots of red blood cells get killed and as a consequence your liver gets more iron than it would normally.  (when not on treatment)  It really is not concerning because of the short duration of treatment.  

[Idyllic]

I think all values have the potential to be important before, during and after treatment. The values you listed are usually on an Iron panel which is typical for pre-treatment labs. That way you have a basis of comparison after treatment. Different values and/or combinations can be used to detect different things from Hemochromatosis to Anemia.

There was an article or two floating around earlier this month about serum ferritin levels as a predictor of treatment outcome in patients with chronic hepatitis C. I actually never heard of that until recently. I am not sure the role serum transferrin plays

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19209167