Description
Iron, Total and Total Iron Binding Capacity (TIBC) Test includes an Iron Test and is used to see if there is too much or too little iron in the blood. Iron moves through the blood attached to a protein called transferrin. The TIBC Test is often used to differentiate between anemia types and gives more iron statistics than the Iron Test alone.
Disorders of iron homeostasis rank among the most common of human diseases. These include states of either iron deficiency which may be an inadequate adsorption or increased loss or iron overload ,normal erythropoiesis but iron exceeds iron binding capacity of transferrin or catabolism of red cells causes iron overload. Serum iron quantification is useful in confirming the diagnosis of iron-deficiency anemia or hemochromatosis. The measurement of total iron binding in the same specimen may facilitate the clinician`s ability to distinguish between low serum iron levels caused by iron deficiency from those related to inflammatory neoplastic disorders.
The assay for iron measures the amount of iron which is bound to transferrin. The total iron binding capacity (TIBC) measures the amount of iron that would appear in blood if all the transferrin were saturated with iron. It is an indirect measurement of transferrin concentrations but expressed as an iron measurement. To obtain the percent saturation, the serum iron is divided by the TIBC which gives the actual amount of saturated transferrin. The percent saturation is low in iron deficiency and high in iron storage diseases.
Samples should be taken in the morning from patients in a fasting state, since iron values decrease by 30% during the course of the day and there can be significant interference from lipemia.
