For a patient with anemia of chronic disease, which lab finding is most likely?

In the case of anemia of chronic disease, one of the hallmark laboratory findings is indeed high ferritin levels. This condition is often associated with chronic inflammation, which leads to a sequestration of iron as part of the body’s defense mechanism. Despite the presence of adequate iron stores, the iron becomes less available for hemoglobin synthesis due to the impact of inflammatory mediators.

Ferritin acts as a protein that stores iron, and its levels increase as iron is sequestered in the body, particularly in the liver and macrophages during states of inflammation. Consequently, in anemia of chronic disease, it is common to observe elevated ferritin levels in laboratory tests, reflecting this sequestration of iron despite a functional deficiency in its availability for erythropoiesis (the production of red blood cells).

Other laboratory findings in this context would typically include low transferrin levels and a decreased total iron-binding capacity (TIBC), which aligns with the reflective availability of iron during chronic disease, but these do not represent the primary distinguishing feature compared to ferritin levels in anemia of chronic disease.