 BackReview Article ScienceAsia 15 (1989): 007-016 |doi: 10.2306/scienceasia1513-1874.1989.15.007
FERRITIN AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE IN LEUCOCYTE
KOVIT PATTANAPANYASATABSTRACT: The ubiquitous distribution of ferritin in virtually all cell types makes it play the central role in iron metabolism. In human leucocytes, both biochemical and physiological mechanisms involved in cell-mediated immune response have been linked positively with this protein. The small amount of ferritin generally present in normalleucotytes is found to be increased in patients with haematological malignancies accompanied by an increase in circulating ferritin. This high concentration is caused by release of ferritin into the serum from leucocytes synthesizing elevated amounts of the protein. The presence of ferritin on a subpopulation of peripheral blood lymphocytes of cancer patients results in a variety of immunosuppressive effects normally found in these patients. An increased lymphocyte-bound ferritin corresponds to development of malignancy with potential diagnostic and prognostic values. In addition, ferritin derived from the cells may have other important roles including the regulation of haemopoietic progenitor cell proliferation and differentiation. The Thalassaemia Centre, Division of Haematology, Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10700, Thailand. Received 15 September 1988
|
