Day-to-day variation in iron-status indexes in elderly women

Day-to-day variability in biochemical indicators of iron status in well-hydrated and healthy women 70-79 y old (n = 10) was determined. Venous blood was collected on 4 nonconsecutive days during a 2-wk period. Analytical (σ_rep²) and biological (σ_fd²) variance components were computed based on a previously established scheme in younger adults. These two variance components were summed to obtain the total day-to-day variability (σ_fd²). Our results indicate that biological variation contributed most to the intraindividual variation. We calculated that sampling once for most iron indexes and twice for plasma transferrin receptors in elderly individuals is adequate to accurately determine these indexes whereas serum iron and transferrin saturation, indexes with high CV_fd, require seven and eight measurements, respectively. These data, compared with previously published data in younger adults, demonstrate that aging is associated with a decreased variation in some indexes of iron status such as serum ferritin.