In other studies anemia accompanying the presence of anti-lactoferrin antibodies was characterized on the basis of diminished hemoglobin concentrations, elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rates (ESR) and/or a higher red blood cell distribution width (RDW) as for example in rheumatoid arthritis and SLE (Chikazawa et al., 2000; Caccavo et al., 2005) and inflammatory bowel diseases (Song et al., 2012). Here, LTF is linked to rheumatoid arthritis.