Transferrin

Performed in Chemistry
Page testing is performed at Sonora Quest Laboratories

TRF

Green Top LiHep, Plasma

Gold/SST, Red Top

For Page, see link below for specimen details, methodology, setup schedule and reference ranges.

Room Temperature 8 days
Refrigerated 8 days
Frozen 6 months

Citrate, oxalate, fluoride plasma
Collected in an outdated/expired tube
Hemolyzed, icteric or lipemic
Contaminated

Daily, Sunday through Saturday

Less than 4 hours

Transferrin is a glycoprotein with a molecular weight of 79570 daltons. It consists of a polypeptide strand with two N-glycosidically linked oligosaccharide chains and exists in numerous isoforms. The rate of synthesis in the liver can be altered in accordance with the body’s iron requirements and iron reserves. Transferrin is the iron transport protein in serum. In cases of iron deficiency, the degree of transferrin saturation appears to be an extremely sensitive indicator of functional iron depletion. The ferritin levels are depressed when there is a deficiency of storage iron. In sideropenia, an iron deficiency can be excluded if the serum transferrin concentration is low, as in inflammations or – less commonly – in cases of ascorbic acid deficiency. In screening for hereditary hemochromatosis, transferrin saturation provides a better indication of the homozygous genotype than does ferritin. The treatment of anemia with erythropoietin in patients with renal failure is only effective when sufficient depot iron is present. The best monitoring procedure is to determine transferrin saturation during therapy. Transferrin saturation in connection with ferritin gives a conclusive prediction of the exclusion of iron overloading in patients with chronic liver disease. A variety of methods are available for determining transferrin including radial immunodiffusion, nephelometry and turbidimetry. The Roche transferrin assay is based on the immunological agglutination principle.