This was due to an increasing prevalence of multifactorial anemia (8.6% to 40.5% to 53.0%), yet most patients with multifactorial anemia after two weeks were normocytic and normochromic (81.6%) with elevated median ferritin levels of 721 μg/L (356–1383 μg/L), CRP levels of 4.07 mg/dL (1.98–9.69 mg/dL) and IL-6 levels of 40.6 ng/L (11.4–75.0 ng/L) as well as decreased transferrin levels of 125 mg/dL (95–150 mg/dL), all hallmarks of AI. Here, TF is linked to anemia (phenotype).