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Iron availability – the implications of short‐term regulation
Author(s) -
FAIRWEATHERTAIT SUSAN J.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
nutrition bulletin
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.933
H-Index - 40
eISSN - 1467-3010
pISSN - 1471-9827
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-3010.1986.tb01253.x
Subject(s) - iron homeostasis , iron deficiency , homeostasis , absorption (acoustics) , mechanism (biology) , iron status , chemistry , physiology , biology , endocrinology , metabolism , medicine , materials science , anemia , physics , composite material , quantum mechanics
Summary The availability of iron depends on a number of dietary and physiological variables, and it is the sum of all these factors that ultimately determines iron status of the body. Iron homeostasis is almost certainly regulated by intestinal absorption via the mucosal cells, the mechanism of which is not yet fully understood. However, studies in animals and man have clearly shown that absorption is influenced by iron status, since the capacity for absorption is enhanced in iron‐deficiency (long‐term regulation), and also by the amount of iron ingested during the days preceding an absorption test (short‐term regulation). Evidence exists to support the hypothesis that the latter regulation is dependent on local effects of iron in the lumen of the intestine; it may well be the feedback mechanism whereby iron homeostasis is maintained in the presence of constantly fluctuating levels of iron. In iron absorption studies, it is important that this short‐term regulation is taken into account in terms of adequate dietary control of experimental subjects.