Serum lactoferrin in children and the correlation to blood leucocytes

Abstract

Serum lactoferrin was measured by a solid phase radioimmunoassay in 271 healthy Faroese children 4, 8, and 13 years old and in 141 Norwegian children (50 umbilical cord blood samples), 91 aged 5 days to 14 years. Faroese children displayed no sex or age difference in serum lactoferrin levels. Serum lactoferrin was correlated to total leucocyte count (rs = 0.24, p<0.0001), blood neutrophils (rs = 0.22, p< 0.001) and eosinophils (rS = 0.15, p < 0.02). The Norwegian children had a median umbilical serum lactoferrin of 17 mg/l which later dropped to 7.5 mg/l (16 neonates) and remained at that level. Serum lactoferrin values in Faroese children were significantly higher (p <0.01) (median 11 mg/l and arithmetic mean 36 mg/1. Children, granulocytes, lactoferrin, leucocytes, lysozyme