Summary
In this prospective study 20 newly diagnosed patients with definite or classical rheumatoid arthritis were followed with serial measurements of serum ferritin and erythrocyte-free protoporphyrin at the beginning of the trial and at 3 and 6 months. The values were correlated with clinical disease activity ad with various laboratory parameters. It was shown that free erythrocyte protoporphyrin has a constant negative correlation with erythrocyte haemoglobin concentration independent of disease activity, while serum ferritin behaves like an acute phase protein. Initial serum ferritin or free erythrocyte protoporphyrin values or their early changes appeared to have no prognostic value as evaluated by the development of new erosions or by the response of the patient to the therapy.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Mowat AG (1971) Hematological abnormalities in rheumatoid arthritis. Semin Arthritis Rheum 1:195–219
Lee GR (1983) The anemia of chronic disease. Semin Hematol 20:61–80
Bentley DP (1982) Anaemia and chronic disease. In: Jacobs A (ed) Clinics in haematology. Saunders, London Philadelphia Toronto, pp 465–479
Williams RA, Samson D, Tikerpae J et al (1982) Invitro studies of ineffective erythropoiesis in rheumatoid arthritis. Ann Rheum Dis 41:502–507
Lipschitz DA, Cook JD, Finch CA (1974) A clinical evaluation of serum ferritin as an index of iron stores. N Engl J Med 290:1213–1216
Smith RJ, Davis P, Thomson ABR et al (1977) Serum ferritin levels in the anemia of rheumatoid arthritis. J Rheumatol 4:389–392
Rotwell RS, Davis P (1981) Relationship between serum ferritin, anemia, and disease activity in acute and chronic rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatol Int 1:65–67
Freireich EJ, Ross JF, Bayles TB et al (1957) Radioactive iron metabolism and erythrocyte survival studies of the mechanism of the anaemia of rheumatoid arthritis. J Clin Invest 36:1043–1058
Muirden KD (1971) The anaemia of rheumatoid arthritis: the significance of iron deposits in the synovial membrane. Aust Ann Med 2:97–104
Blake DR, Bacon PA (1981) Synovial fluid ferritin in rheumatoid arthritis: an index or cause of inflammation? Br Med J [Clin Res] 282:189
Konjin AM, Hershko C (1977) Ferritin synthesis in inflammation. I. Pathogenesis of impaired iron release. Br J Haematol 37:7–16
Blake DR, Hall ND, Bacon PA et al (1981) The importance of iron in rheumatoid disease. Lancet II:1142–1144
Campbell BC, Rennie N, Thompson GG et al (1978) Haem biosynthesis in rheumatoid disease. Br J Haematol 40:563–569
Ropes HW, Bennet GA, Gobb S et al (1959) Diagnostic criteria for rheumatoid arthritis. Ann Rheum Dis 18:49–53
Ritchie DM, Boyle JA, McInnes JM et al (1968) Clinical studies with an articular index for the assessment of joint tenderness in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Q J Med 27:393–406
Mallya RK, Mace BEW (1981) The assessment of disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis using a multivariate analysis. Rheumatol Rehabit 20:14–17
Möttönen T, Hannonen P, Seppälä O et al (1984) Glutathione and selenium in rheumatoid arthritis. Clin Rheumatol 2:195–200
Harmoinen A, Perko M, Grönroos R (1981) Rapid quantitative determination of C-reactive protein using LKB 8600 reaction rate analyzer. Clin Chim Acta 111:117–120
Piomelli S, Brickman A, Carlos E (1976) Rapid diagnosis of iron deficiency by measurement of free erythrocyte protoporphyrins and hemoglobin: the FEP/hemoglobin ratio. Pediatrics 57:136–141
Anonymous (1985) Lancet II:536–537
Kurnick MJE, Ward HP, Pickett JE (1972) Mechanism of anaemia in chronic disorders. Correlation of haematocrit value with albumen, vitamin B12, transferrin, and iron stores. Arch Intern Med 130:323–326
Cavill I (1982) Diagnostic methods. In: Jacobs A (ed) Clinics in haematology. Saunders, London Philadelphia Toronto, pp 259–273
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hannonen, P., Möttönen, T. & Oka, M. Serum ferritin and free erythrocyte protoporphyrin in rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatol Int 6, 185–188 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00541286
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00541286