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IRON ABSORPTION FROM THE GASTRO‐INTESTINAL TRACT
Author(s) -
Cantrill Shirley,
Walsh RJ
Publication year - 1962
Publication title -
australian journal of experimental biology and medical science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.999
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1440-1711
pISSN - 0004-945X
DOI - 10.1038/icb.1962.3
Subject(s) - absorption (acoustics) , chemistry , erythropoiesis , serum iron , phenylhydrazine , medicine , absorption rate , hemoglobin , zoology , endocrinology , biochemistry , anemia , biology , chromatography , materials science , medicinal chemistry , composite material
SUMMARY Experiments have been performed with rats to investigate the effectiveness of the “mucosal block” theory in preventing absorption of excessive amounts of iron. Animals were given an iron solution in lieu of drinking water for four days and tracer doses of Fe 59 were administered at various intervals after cessation of iron feeding. Absorption of Fe 59 was measured by radioassay of the blood and organs of the animals. A comparison of the assays on iron‐fed and control animals shows that there was some reduction of iron absorption in the iron‐fed animals, especially during the first 24 hours, but that the preliminary iron feeding did not effectively prevent absorption at any time. The iron content of the mucosal cell does not appear to be the major factor determining the amount of iron in the rat. In further experiments rats were injected with phenylhydrazine and Fe 59 was administered while the haemoglobin value was normal but the rate of erythropoiesis raised (shown by an increase in reticulocytes). Under these conditions absorption of iron was considerably higher than in the untreated control animals. These results suggest that the rate of erythropoiesis may be an important factor in the regulation of iron absorption.