Solid phase radioimmunossay for serum ferritin.

A solid-phase "direct" radio immunoassay which is highly sensitive (detecting less than 0.5 ng/ml) and reproducible is described for the assay of ferritin in human serum. The method makes use of specific anti-ferritin antibody prepared using human liver ferritin; It has the advantage that tubes coated with specific antiserum may be stored for later use and lends itself readily to an automated washing procedure. The concentration of ferritin present in the serum of normal males in the population was 56,9 ng/ml (geometric mean) with a 95 percent confidence range of 18 to 180 ng/ml. In normal females the concentration was 34.0 ng/ml (geometric mean) with a 95 percent condidence range of 10 to 143 ng/ml.