Hepatic
hemosiderosis is one of the most common postmortem findings in captive callitrichid species. Noninvasive evaluation of hematologic
iron analytes has been used to diagnose hepatic
iron storage disease in humans, lemurs, and bats. This study evaluated the relationship between hematologic
iron analyte values (
iron,
ferritin, total
iron binding capacity, and percent
transferrin saturation) and hepatic
hemosiderosis in callitrichids at the Wildlife Conservation Society's Central Park and Bronx Zoos. Results revealed that both
ferritin and percent
transferrin saturation levels had strong positive correlations with hepatic
iron concentration (P<0.001, r=0.77, n=20; P<0.001, r=0.85, n=10, respectively). Serum
iron levels positively correlated with hepatic
iron concentration (P=0.06, r=0.56, n=11), but this finding was not significant. Serum total
iron binding capacity did not significantly correlate with hepatic
iron concentration (P=0.47, r=0.25, n=10). Both
ferritin and hepatic
iron concentration positively correlated with severity of hepatic
iron deposition on histology (P<0.05, r=0.49, n=21; P<0.001, r=0.67, n=21, respectively). This study suggests that
ferritin, serum
iron concentration, and percent
transferrin saturation are convenient, noninvasive, antemortem methods for assessing severity of
hemosiderosis in callitrichids.