Hepatic storage of iron and ferritin in different ethnic groups in Singapore

The concentrations of non-haem iron, ferritin and ferritin-iron were measured in the livers of 137 adults and children collected at necropsy. The concentrations of non-haem and ferritin iron were found to be 146.6 +/- 95.2 micrograms/g and 61.6 +/- 32.4 micrograms/g, respectively, in males and 108.0 +/- 61.7 micrograms/g and 60.6 +/- 26.4 micrograms/g, respectively, in females. The values for males in Singapore were lower than those reported in developed Western countries. No correlation was observed between storage iron and age, or ferritin concentration and age. Concentrations of non-haem iron and ferritin were similar for persons dying from accident and coronary heart disease. The non-haem iron concentration in Chinese (187.9 +/- 101.0 micrograms/g) was significantly greater than that in Indians (103.1 +/- 65.8 micrograms/g), while the ferritin concentration in Chinese (6.18 +/- 2.37 mg/g) was significantly greater than either Malays (3.81 +/- 1.8 mg/g) or Indians (3.52 +/- 1.6 mg/g). A significant positive correlation was observed between the non-haem iron and ferritin and also ferritin-iron in Chinese males (r values of 0.678 and 0.598, respectively) and Indian males (r values of 0.576 and 0.612, respectively). However, the correlation between these indices was not significant in the case of Malay males. In premenopausal women the non-haem iron correlated well with ferritin (r = 0.737) and ferritin iron (r = 0.826) while the correlation was lacking in postmenopausal women.