Transferrin

Transferrin is the major iron transport protein in plasma. It plays a central role in iron metabolism allowing the transfer of iron from the catabolism of haemoglobin and other proteins to haemopoietic tissues. In iron-deficiency anaemia, the concentration of iron in serum is low, but that of transferrin is high, whilst and the saturation of transferrin is low or normal. In chronic disorders, the concentrations of both transferrin and iron are low whilst but the ratio of transferrin saturation with iron tends to be high.