Sir, In the recent publication by Movahedi et al., <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref1">1</xref> it is stated that determination of serum ferritin level, a sensitive inflammatory biomarker, has been identified as a diagnostic marker of acute phase reactions, including inflammatory conditions. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref1">1</xref> However, determination of the power and the best cut-off point of this biomarker for predicting preterm labor play a critical rule for the diagnostic performance of this intracellular iron storage protein. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref1">1</xref> Determination of ferritin is performed based on an immunoassay technique and it should be noted that since each laboratory has its own conditions and instruments, results obtained in various laboratories may differ from each other. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref2">2</xref> , <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref3">3</xref> Recently Shahbazi et al. have investigated that, mobile phones exposure results in reduction of human chorionic gonadotropin during the immunoenzymometric assay in laboratory. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref4">4</xref> This study aimed to investigate whether the ferritin levels in the test could be interfered by the exposure to the 900 MHz cell phones in the laboratory. Fifty human serum wells from 25 normal healthy donors were placed into two batches, and the well heads in the first batch were exposed to 900 MHz exposure emitted from a speech mode cell phone (Nokia, Model 1202, India) for 30 minute. Unexposed batch was served as the control sample under identical conditions and was compared with the exposed one in quantitative determination of ferritin using the Wilcoxon test with criterion level of P = 0.050. Results revealed that, ferritin level in the exposed batch showed a significant decrease in werum ferritin relative to the control batch ( P = 0.029) <xref ref-type="fig" rid="F1">Figure 1</xref>. Radiofrequency electromagnetic waves emitted from cell phones may lead to oxidative stress and rapid diffusion of the human ferritin. Also, the enzyme activity can be affected. <fig id="F1"> <label>Figure 1</label> <caption> Human serum ferritin level (average ± SD) among control and the exposed groups. </caption> <alt-text>Figure 1</alt-text> <graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="JResMedSci_2013_18_1_84_114531_u1.tif" /> </fig> The evaluation of the diagnostic performance of the human serum ferritin in the laboratory needs further considerations. Moreover, effect of exposure from mobile phones is a complex process that needs the combined contributions of many scientific regulations. </sec> <sec> <title>Acknowledgment

JRMS

J Res Med Sci

Journal of Research in Medical Sciences

1735-1995 1735-7136

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JRMS-18-84

23901342

Letter to Editor

Diagnostic performance of the human serum ferritin level decreased due to mobile phone exposure

Fattahi-asl

Jafar

Baradaran-Ghahfarokhi

Milad

Karbalae

Mojtaba

Baradaran-Ghahfarokhi

Hamid R

Haghighizadeh

Mohammad H

Departments of Medical Physics, School of Medicine, Ahwaz Jundishapour University of Medical Sciences, Khuzestan, Iran Department of Medical Physics and Medical Engineering, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran Department of Medical Physics and Medical Engineering, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran Department of Molecular Medicine and Reproductive Endocrinology Research Center, Shahid Beheshty University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Departments of Biostatistics, School of Health, Ahwaz Jundishapour University of Medical Sciences, Khuzestan, Iran

Address for correspondence:Milad Baradaran-Ghahfarokhi, Medical Physics and Medical Engineering Department, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan 81746 73461, Iran milad_bgh@yahoo.com

January 2013

18 1 84 84

2013

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Sir, In the recent publication by Movahedi et al., <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref1">1</xref> it is stated that determination of serum ferritin level, a sensitive inflammatory biomarker, has been identified as a diagnostic marker of acute phase reactions, including inflammatory conditions. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref1">1</xref> However, determination of the power and the best cut-off point of this biomarker for predicting preterm labor play a critical rule for the diagnostic performance of this intracellular iron storage protein. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref1">1</xref> Determination of ferritin is performed based on an immunoassay technique and it should be noted that since each laboratory has its own conditions and instruments, results obtained in various laboratories may differ from each other. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref2">2</xref> , <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref3">3</xref> Recently Shahbazi et al. have investigated that, mobile phones exposure results in reduction of human chorionic gonadotropin during the immunoenzymometric assay in laboratory. <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref4">4</xref> This study aimed to investigate whether the ferritin levels in the test could be interfered by the exposure to the 900 MHz cell phones in the laboratory. Fifty human serum wells from 25 normal healthy donors were placed into two batches, and the well heads in the first batch were exposed to 900 MHz exposure emitted from a speech mode cell phone (Nokia, Model 1202, India) for 30 minute. Unexposed batch was served as the control sample under identical conditions and was compared with the exposed one in quantitative determination of ferritin using the Wilcoxon test with criterion level of P = 0.050. Results revealed that, ferritin level in the exposed batch showed a significant decrease in werum ferritin relative to the control batch ( P = 0.029) <xref ref-type="fig" rid="F1">Figure 1</xref>. Radiofrequency electromagnetic waves emitted from cell phones may lead to oxidative stress and rapid diffusion of the human ferritin. Also, the enzyme activity can be affected. <fig id="F1"> <label>Figure 1</label> <caption> Human serum ferritin level (average ± SD) among control and the exposed groups. </caption> <alt-text>Figure 1</alt-text> <graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="JResMedSci_2013_18_1_84_114531_u1.tif" /> </fig> The evaluation of the diagnostic performance of the human serum ferritin in the laboratory needs further considerations. Moreover, effect of exposure from mobile phones is a complex process that needs the combined contributions of many scientific regulations. </sec> <sec> <title>Acknowledgment

This research was supported by a Grant (No. U-91097) from the Ahvaz Jundishapour University of Medical Sciences, Khuzestan, Iran.

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Diagnostic performance and discriminative value of the serum ferritin level for predicting preterm labor

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Mobile phone radiation interferes laboratory immunoenzymometric assays: Example chorionic gonadotropin assays

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