Abstract
There are few good biomarkers of iron deficiency anemia (IDA). Since IDA patients have evidence for increased oxidative stress, we used mass spectrometry (MS) [i.e. matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) and electrospray ionization] to identify novel biomarkers. Using MALDI-MS, the following oxidative modifications of hemoglobin with the following mass-to-charge ratios were identified: 1,087.5 (alpha 32-40), 1,545.7 (alpha 17-31), 1,290.0 (beta 31-40) and 2,076.1 (beta 41-59). On electrospray ionization MS, the IDA patients had significantly elevated glutathionyl hemoglobin (GSHb) compared with the controls (16.9 +/- 9.6 vs. 7.7 +/- 3.7%; p = 0.002). GSHb levels correlated inversely with serum ferritin (Spearman rho -0.485; p = 0.003) and positively with serum transferrin receptor (0.460; p = 0.002). GSHb also demonstrated inverse correlations with hemoglobin (-0.512; p = 0.001), mean cell volume (-0.419; p = 0.026), serum iron (-0.446; p = 0.008) and transferrin saturation (-0.460; p = 0.008). For the first time, we show that GSHb is elevated in patients with IDA and has potential as a biomarker of this form of anemia. Copyright (C) 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel