Tuberc Respir Dis.  2012 Feb;72(2):163-168.

The Relationship between Serum Ferritin Concentrations, Smoking and Lung Function in Korean

• Kim SY
• Lee SH
• Lee IS
• Kim SB
• Moon CS
• Jung SM
• Kim SK
• Kim YS

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Cigarette smoke induced release of iron could alter iron metabolism in the lungs of chronic smokers and contribute to the increase in the total oxidative burden on the lungs of smokers. In previous studies, ferritin levels of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in smokers were elevated. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between serum ferritin concentration, smoking and lung function in Korean people.
METHODS
This study was based on the data acquired in the second year (2008) of the Forth National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey that was conducted from 2007 to 2009. The analysis included 2,244 subjects who were older than 20 years and had complete data from both lung function test and serum ferritin concentration. Among participants, 1,076 were male and 1,168 were female.
RESULTS
Mean serum ferritin concentrations in males were 120.3+/-80.1 microg/L and 47.9+/-39.8 microg/L in females. There were no differences in serum ferritin concentrations between non-smokers and smokers after adjusting for age, body mass index, and amounts of alcohol. Serum ferritin concentrations were associated with smoking amounts by simple linear regression but not associated with smoking amounts after adjustment with age, body mass index, and amounts of alcohol in both males and females. Lung function was not associated with serum ferritin concentrations.
CONCLUSION
Our data suggested that serum ferritin concentrations are not related with smoking and lung function.

Keyword

Ferritins; Smoking; Respiratory Function Tests

MeSH Terms

Body Mass Index
Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid
Female
Ferritins
Humans
Iron
Linear Models
Lung
Male
Nutrition Surveys
Respiratory Function Tests
Smoke
Smoking
Tobacco Products
Ferritins
Iron
Smoke

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