Which type of anemia is characterized by microcytic red blood cells with low serum iron and normal or elevated ferritin levels?

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The type of anemia characterized by microcytic red blood cells with low serum iron and normal or elevated ferritin levels is indeed associated with anemia of chronic disease. In this condition, the body tends to sequester iron in response to chronic inflammation or disease, which leads to low serum iron due to decreased availability, while ferritin levels can remain normal or even elevated because it reflects the body's total iron stores.

In contrast to other types of anemia, the pathophysiology of anemia of chronic disease involves hepcidin, a regulatory hormone that increases in response to inflammation. This hormone inhibits iron absorption from the gut and prevents iron release from macrophages, leading to iron being kept in storage forms rather than being available for red blood cell production. Consequently, this results in microcytic anemia as there is insufficient iron for hemoglobin synthesis, contributing to the reduced size of the red blood cells observed in this type of anemia.

Other types of anemia present different patterns of iron parameters and blood cell morphology. Iron deficiency anemia would typically show low serum iron and low ferritin, while acute blood loss would lead to normocytic anemia until compensatory mechanisms come into play. Pernicious anemia primarily causes macrocytic cells due to vitamin B12 deficiency, which

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