Abstract
The effects of biological (age, sex, weight) and pathological factors on plasma ferritin concentrations were documented in 776 unselected elderly patients aged 80.9 ± 9.7 yr. A marked shift towards high values (159 ± 142 μg/l) was observed in this elderly population together with the persistence of the well-known sex-related difference in ferritin levels (higher levels in men). Twenty-five percent of the population had high levels of ferritin (⩾ 220 μg/l) but 75% of these high values (i.e. 18.5% of the population) could be readily explained by their known association with a particular pathology (inflammatory syndrome, renal failure, cardiovascular diseases, alcoholism). Only 6% of the population had unexplained high ferritin concentrations. Therefore, our data strongly suggest that the repeatedly reported increase of ferritin in the aged population is merely related to an age-associated pathology and may not be a normal physiological event occurring during the process of aging.
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