Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2014 Aug;28(4):671-81, vi.
doi: 10.1016/j.hoc.2014.04.005. Epub 2014 May 28.

Anemia of inflammation

Elizabeta Nemeth  1 , Tomas Ganz  2
Affiliations
Review

Anemia of inflammation

Elizabeta Nemeth et al. Hematol Oncol Clin North Am. 2014 Aug.

Abstract

Anemia of inflammation (AI, also called anemia of chronic disease) is a common, typically normocytic, normochromic anemia that is caused by an underlying inflammatory disease. It is diagnosed when serum iron concentrations are low despite adequate iron stores, as evidenced by serum ferritin that is not low. In the setting of inflammation, it may be difficult to differentiate AI from iron deficiency anemia, and the 2 conditions may coexist. Treatment should focus on the underlying disease. Recent advances in molecular understanding of AI are stimulating the development of new pathophysiologically targeted experimental therapies.

Keywords: Anemia of chronic disease; Cytokines; Erythropoiesis-stimulating agents; Ferroportin; Hepcidin.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The pathogenesis of AI is mediated by inflammatory cytokines and hepcidin, acting together to suppress erythropoiesis and shorten erythrocyte survival in blood. The effects of cytokines are denoted in light green, hepcidin effects are depicted in orange, and combined effects in red.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Cartwright GE, Lee GR. The anaemia of chronic disorders. Br J Haematol. 1971;21(2):147–152. - PubMed
    1. KATZ JH. Iron and protein kinetics studied by means of doubly labeled human crystalline transferrin. J Clin Invest. 1961:402143–2152. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Corwin HL, Krantz SB. Anemia of the critically ill: “acute” anemia of chronic disease. Crit Care Med. 2000;28(8):3098–3099. - PubMed
    1. Beghe C, Wilson A, Ershler WB. Prevalence and outcomes of anemia in geriatrics: a systematic review of the literature. The American Journal of Medicine. 2004;116(7, Supplement 1):3–10. - PubMed
    1. Elliott J, Mishler D, Agarwal R. Hyporesponsiveness to Erythropoietin: Causes and Management. Advances in Chronic Kidney Disease. 2009;16(2):94–100. - PubMed