American Board of Surgery Qualifying Exam (ABS QE) Practice Test

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Prepare for the ABS QE with flashcards and multiple-choice questions. Each question provides hints and explanations to enhance understanding. Start your journey to becoming a certified surgeon and tackle your exam with confidence!

Each practice test/flash card set has 50 randomly selected questions from a bank of over 500. You'll get a new set of questions each time!

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What is the half-life of transferrin?

5 days
8 days
12 days
15 days

The correct answer is: 8 days

Transferrin has a half-life of approximately 8 days in the circulation. This protein is primarily responsible for the transport of iron throughout the bloodstream, binding to iron ions and facilitating their delivery to various tissues and cells that require this essential mineral. The understanding of transferrin's half-life is important in clinical settings, especially when monitoring iron levels in patients, assessing iron deficiency anemia, or evaluating conditions related to iron overload. Knowledge of transferrin's kinetics aids clinicians in interpreting laboratory results and making informed decisions regarding treatment and management of these conditions. The other options, which refer to half-lives that are either shorter or longer, do not accurately represent the known properties of transferrin and its metabolism in the body, highlighting the importance of referencing established medical literature when considering biochemical markers.