Monitoring the efficiency of iron chelation therapy: the potential of nontransferrin-bound iron.

The major ligands of nontransferrin-bound iron (NTBI) are suggested to be citrate and albumin. The proportion of iron binding to albumin is influenced by the degree of oxidation and glycation of the protein. LC-ICP-MS is demonstrated to be a useful technique for the speciation of NTBI, with unprocessed serum being subjected to analysis. Ferritin iron, citrate iron, and ferrioxamine can be quantified using this technique. This review describes the use of a new fluorescent probe for NTBI quantification.