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THE DISTRIBUTION OF IRON FOLLOWING PARENTERAL INJECTION OR ORAL INGESTION
Author(s) -
Walsh RJ,
Cantrill Shirley,
Sanford Rona
Publication year - 1963
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.1963.59
Subject(s) - polycythaemia , spleen , gastrointestinal tract , ingestion , chemistry , haemolysis , haematopoiesis , radiochemistry , medicine , pharmacology , physiology , biochemistry , immunology , biology , stem cell , genetics
SUMMARY Tracer doses of iron salts containing 59 Fe were administered to rats by mouth and by intravenous injection. At various intervals 59 Fe in the blood and organs was measured by radioassay. The distribution was similar after intravenous injection to that following oral ingestion. An increase of storage iron in the liver and spleen, produced by injections of iron‐dextran or of red cell iron, resulted in an increased amount of the tracer dose in the tissues. Stimulated haemopoiesis following haemolysis of red cells increased the 59 Fe in the blood, and transfusion polycythaemia, which depressed haemopoiesis, diverted absorbed tracer iron to the tissues. It is noted that two factors influencing the distribution of absorbed iron in the body ‐ the size of the iron stores and the rate of haemopoiesis ‐ also regulate the amount of iron absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. Iron absorbed from haemoglobin and liver in food is distributed in the same way as iron absorbed from iron salts. Iron from haemoglobin injected intravenously or subcutaneously ill distributed in a different manner.