Biomarker-Defined Iron Deficiency in Heavy Smokers with and without COPD and/or Emphysema

Ingrid Marie Hardang,1,2 Kirill Neumann,2,3 Geir Tormod Gjønnes,3 Trond-Eirik Strand,4,5 Haseem Ashraf,2,6 Gunnar Einvik2,3 1Department of Multidisciplinary Laboratory Medicine and Medical Biochemistry, Akershus University Hospital, Lørenskog, Norway; 2Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Lørenskog, Norway; 3Pulmonary Department, Akershus University Hospital, Lørenskog, Norway; 4Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; 5Department of Community Medicine, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway; 6Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Akershus University Hospital, Lørenskog, NorwayCorrespondence: Gunnar Einvik, Pulmonary Department, Akershus University Hospital, Lørenskog, Norway, Tel +47-41104542, Email [email protected]: Assess whether iron deficiency prevalence in heavy smokers is higher in presence of COPD and/or emphysema, how the prevalence of iron deficiency is impacted by the biomarker used to define it, and examine the prevalence of anemia and polycythemia in heavy smokers with or without COPD.Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was conducted on 1002 participants from the Norwegian Early Lung Cancer Screening study. All participants underwent chest CT scans, spirometry, and venous blood sampling to analyze iron-related parameters, C-reactive protein (CRP), and hemoglobin. Iron deficiency was defined using transferrin saturation (TSat) < 20%, ferritin