Pseudoparaproteinemia Due to Hypertransferrinemia

Abstract

A patient with chronic iron deficiency anemia and an apparent M-spike deformity of the beta globulin zone of the serum electropherogram was found to have hypertransferrinemia rather than paraproteinemia. The height of the beta spike decreased progressively as the iron deficiency was corrected. The beta peak was proportional in height to the concentration of transferrin in the patient's serum, and the same relationship held in studies of other individuals with hypertransferrinemia, including men with iron deficency anemia, women in the third trimester of pregnancy, and women taking oral contraceptives. Hypertransferrinemia appears to be an important cause of nonmyelomatous beta spike deformity of the serum electrophoretic pattern.