An update on iron physiology

Table 2 Main laboratory tests for the diagnosis of anemia and iron deficiency

Laboratory test	Normal values, units	Conversion to SI units
Iron depletion in the body
Serum iron	50-180 μg/dL	× 0.179 μmol/L
Transferrin	200-360 mg/dL	× 0.01 g/L
TSAT	20%-50%
Ferritin	30-300 ng/mL	× 2.247 pmol/L
sTfR	0.76-1.76 mg/L	6.4-25.7 nmol/L
Ratio of sTfR to serum ferritin (sTfR/log ferritin)	< 1
Iron deficient red cell production
Hemoglobin	12-16 g/dL (female)	× 0.6206 mmol/L
	13-17 g/dL (male)
MCV	80-100 fL
RDW	11-15
MCH	28-35 pg
HYPO	< 5%
CHr	28-35 pg

TSAT: Transferrin saturation; sTfR: Soluble transferrin receptors; MCV: Mean corpuscular volume; RDW: Red cell distribution width; MCH: Mean corpuscular Hb; HYPO: Hypochromic red cells; CHr: Reticulocyte Hb content.