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Failure of transferrin to enhance iron absorption in achlorhydric human subjects
Author(s) -
Bezwoda W. R.,
Macphail A. P.,
Bothwell T. H.,
Baynes R. D.,
Derman D. P.,
Torrance J. D.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
british journal of haematology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.907
H-Index - 186
eISSN - 1365-2141
pISSN - 0007-1048
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2141.1986.tb07558.x
Subject(s) - transferrin , ferrous , pernicious anaemia , ferric , absorption (acoustics) , achlorhydria , medicine , chemistry , endocrinology , stomach , inorganic chemistry , materials science , organic chemistry , composite material
S ummary There is evidence in experimental animals that transferrin, produced either by gastrointestinal cells or derived from bile, mediates the luminal absorption of iron. The applicability of these findings to human subjects was tested by administering diferric transferrin labelled with 3 mg 59 Fe to seven patients with pernicious anaemia. Achlorhydric subjects were chosen to ensure that the iron transferrin complex did not dissociate in the stomach. The geometric mean absorption of 1.4% was similar to that of 3 mg iron given as ferric chloride (1.9%) and much less than that of ferrous ascorbate (18.9%). These findings suggest that transferrin does not play a physiological role in the absorption of iron in human subjects.