SitemapContact Us
닫기
Search
Advanced Search +
닫기
Quick links
Most Cited Most Read Ahead of Print Archives Go to E-submission

Original Article

Split Viewer

Blood Res 2018; 53(1):

Published online March 31, 2018

https://doi.org/10.5045/br.2018.53.1.18

© The Korean Society of Hematology

Reference values for serum ferritin and percentage of transferrin saturation in Korean children and adolescents

Hea Lin Oh, Jun Ah Lee, Dong Ho Kim, and Jung Sub Lim*

Author Info. +

Department of Pediatrics, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Seoul, Korea.

Correspondence to : Jung Sub Lim, M.D., Ph.D. Department of Pediatrics, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, 75 Nowon-ro, Nowon-gu, Seoul 01812, Korea. limjs@kcch.re.kr

Received: June 14, 2017; Revised: July 13, 2017; Accepted: September 1, 2017

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Go to

Background

Ferritin reference values vary by age, gender, and ethnicity. We aimed to determine reference values of serum ferritin (SF) and the percentage of transferrin saturation (TSAT) for Korean children and adolescents.

Methods

We analyzed data from 2,487 participants (1,311 males and 1,176 females) aged 10?20 years from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2010?2012). We calculated age- and gender-stratified means and percentile values for SF and TSAT.

Results

We first plotted mean SF and TSAT by gender and according to age. In males, mean SF tended to be relatively constant among participants aged 10 to 14 years, with an upward trend thereafter. Mean SF trended downward among female participants until the age of 15 years and remained constant thereafter. Thus, significant gender differences in ferritin exist from the age of 14 years. High levels of SF were associated with obesity, and lower SF levels were associated with anemia and menarche status.

Conclusion

We established reference values of SF and TSAT according to age and gender. The reference values for SF calculated in this study can be used to test the association between SF values and other defined diseases in Korean children and adolescents.

Keywords Ferritin, Adolescent, Child, Reference values, Korea, Transferrin

Article

Original Article

Blood Res 2018; 53(1): 18-24

Published online March 31, 2018 https://doi.org/10.5045/br.2018.53.1.18

Copyright © The Korean Society of Hematology.

Reference values for serum ferritin and percentage of transferrin saturation in Korean children and adolescents

Hea Lin Oh, Jun Ah Lee, Dong Ho Kim, and Jung Sub Lim*

Department of Pediatrics, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Seoul, Korea.

Correspondence to:Jung Sub Lim, M.D., Ph.D. Department of Pediatrics, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, 75 Nowon-ro, Nowon-gu, Seoul 01812, Korea. limjs@kcch.re.kr

Received: June 14, 2017; Revised: July 13, 2017; Accepted: September 1, 2017

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Background

Ferritin reference values vary by age, gender, and ethnicity. We aimed to determine reference values of serum ferritin (SF) and the percentage of transferrin saturation (TSAT) for Korean children and adolescents.

Methods

We analyzed data from 2,487 participants (1,311 males and 1,176 females) aged 10?20 years from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2010?2012). We calculated age- and gender-stratified means and percentile values for SF and TSAT.

Results

We first plotted mean SF and TSAT by gender and according to age. In males, mean SF tended to be relatively constant among participants aged 10 to 14 years, with an upward trend thereafter. Mean SF trended downward among female participants until the age of 15 years and remained constant thereafter. Thus, significant gender differences in ferritin exist from the age of 14 years. High levels of SF were associated with obesity, and lower SF levels were associated with anemia and menarche status.

Conclusion

We established reference values of SF and TSAT according to age and gender. The reference values for SF calculated in this study can be used to test the association between SF values and other defined diseases in Korean children and adolescents.

Keywords: Ferritin, Adolescent, Child, Reference values, Korea, Transferrin

Fig 1.

Download
Figure 1.

Age- and gender-specific mean values for Korean children and adolescents aged 10–20 years. Blue color in the charts indicates data for male participants; red color indicates female data. Iron intake showed increased tendency according to age, but it was not significant in both genders. Serum iron levels rose sharply after age 11 years and plateaued after age 14 years in males; iron levels remained constant or even decreased in females after age 14 years. Hb levels rose sharply after age 11 years and plateaued after age 15 years in males. In females, Hb levels were stable by age 12 years and decreased thereafter, with nadirs at ages 18 and 19 years. Serum ferritin levels exhibited a steep rise after age 14 years in males, but remained constant until age 14 years and decreased thereafter in females. TIBC peaked at age 11 years in females and 12 years in males, with a slight decrease thereafter. TSAT values for males increased significantly after age 14 years and remained relatively constant in female participants.

Blood Research 2018; 53: 18-24https://doi.org/10.5045/br.2018.53.1.18

Table 1 . Characteristics of study participants aged 10–20 years..

Abbreviations: TIBC, total iron-binding capacity; TSAT, percentage of transferrin saturation..

Table 2 . Impact of obesity, anemia, and menarche status on serum indices..

Abbreviations: Hb, hemoglobin; TIBC, total iron-binding capacity; TSAT, percentage of transferrin saturation..

Table 3 . Age- and gender-specific means and percentiles of serum ferritin values for Korean children and adolescents aged 10–20 years..


Table 4 . Age- and gender-specific means and percentiles of TSAT values for Korean children and adolescents aged 10–20 years..


Blood Res
Volume 60 2025
Current Issue Archives

Stats or Metrics

Share this article on

  • line

Related articles in BR

Blood Research

pISSN 2287-979X
eISSN 2288-0011
qr-code Download