At a glance
| Analyte | Serum iron |
|---|---|
| Also called | Fe, Serum iron |
| Method | Ferrozine colorimetric |
| Sample type | Serum |
| Panel | Anaemia |
| Discipline | Clinical chemistry |
| Brand | Mindray |
What Iron measures
Serum iron measures the iron currently circulating bound to transferrin, which is a snapshot of transport rather than of the body’s stores. That distinction matters, because it means a single iron result is a weak guide to iron deficiency on its own: the value has a pronounced daily variation, falls in any inflammatory illness, and responds quickly to a recent meal or supplement. It becomes useful in combination, read with transferrin or total iron-binding capacity to derive a saturation, and alongside ferritin, which reflects stores rather than transport. In practice, ferritin answers the question of deficiency and serum iron contributes to the fuller picture.
How Philippine laboratories run it
Iron-deficiency anaemia is common in Philippine practice, particularly in women of reproductive age and in children, so the anaemia workup is a routine rather than a specialist request and it usually starts from a complete blood count showing a microcytic picture. Iron studies are then ordered as a group, which means this reagent should be planned with ferritin rather than separately. The timing caveat is a practical one for the collection area: samples for iron studies are best drawn in the morning and before supplements are taken that day, and a laboratory that does not say so in its instructions will see results it cannot interpret.
Analyzers it runs on
Calibrator, controls and companion tests
Delivered with its calibrator, both control levels and the rest of the anaemia panel, on the same schedule as Iron.
Storage and handling
Refrigerated and kept closed when off the analyzer.
Buying Iron in the Philippines
Iron is supplied for the BS-600M, BS-430, BS-360E, BS-240Pro, BS-230 and BA-88A. We deliver it with Multi-Sera Calibrator and Chemistry Control Level 1, because a run held up waiting on a separate order costs the same shift a stock-out does. Delivery is scheduled against your monthly Iron count, so the bench is not rationing tests in the last week of the month. How we plan clinical chemistry supply.
Questions about Iron
Is serum iron enough to diagnose iron deficiency?
On its own, no. Serum iron measures what is in transport at that moment, and it varies through the day, falls during any inflammatory illness and responds to a recent meal or supplement. Ferritin reflects the body’s stores and is the more reliable indicator of deficiency. Iron studies are interpreted as a group rather than from a single value.
Order Iron
Tell us your monthly Iron volume and we will quote a supply schedule for BS-600M. We reply within one business day.
Request a quotation