Specimen Type/Volume

0.5 mL serum or lithium heparin plasma.

Shipping Information

Ship in insulated container with freezer packs.

Collection Protocol

Collect blood into a red-top vacutainer; avoid hemolysis. Separate serum from cells as soon as possible following collection and transfer to a leakproof tube. Refrigerate until shipped.

Additional Information

TIBC (total iron binding capacity) is a measure of the maximal concentration of iron that can be bound by serum proteins. As most serum iron is transferrin-bound, serum iron is dependent upon and correlates with the transferrin concentration in serum. In health, iron occupies only about a third of all serum transferrin binding sites. UIBC is a measure of the open or unused iron binding sites on transferrin. TIBC = UIBC + serum iron. TIBC is increased with iron deficiency in most species (except for dogs), and foals at 1 mo of age have markedly increased TIBC for reasons which are not entirely clear. Decreased TIBC is related to decreased transferrin production, possibly as a result of inflammation or hepatic insufficiency.