Transferrin test

The protein that carries iron in the blood.

€9.07. You pay at the desk, not online.

Transferrin test: what it is for

Transferrin is the protein that carries iron in your blood. Your liver makes it. It picks up iron absorbed by the gut or released from your stores and takes it where it is needed, above all to the bone marrow, where red blood cells are made. When iron runs short, your body makes more of it.

When it is done

Doctors order it with serum iron, to work out transferrin saturation. It helps when they suspect iron is short or too high, especially if inflammation makes ferritin unreliable.

Sometimes they also ask for it to see how your liver and nutrition are doing, together with albumin.

How the transferrin test is done

It is a blood test, done at a Bianalisi lab without a prescription. You can add other tests to the same draw.

Questions about the transferrin test.

Do I need to fast for a transferrin test? Not needed for transferrin itself. But it is done with serum iron, which asks for it, so it is best to come fasting, in the morning.

How much does the transferrin test cost? €9.07, from Bianalisi’s private list for Lombardy. You pay at the desk on the day of the draw, not online.

Do I need a prescription for the transferrin test? No. You book it here without a prescription and pay at the Bianalisi desk.

When do results arrive? Within 10 working days, in the Rosa app, with each value next to the lab’s interval. The report a doctor approves is in the Rosa membership.