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Incorporation of Iron from an Oral Dose into the Ferritin of the Duodenal Mucosa and the Liver of Normal and Iron-Deficient Rats¹

Walther-Straub-Institut für Pharmakologie und Toxikologie der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Nussbaumstrasse 26, D-8000 München 2, West Germany.

To further characterize the role of ferritin in regulating iron absorption, uptake of an oral dose of ⁵⁹Fe (0.2 mg Fe/kg body wt.) into duodenal and hepatic ferritin of control and iron-deficient (ID) rats was studied. Retention and uptake of ⁵⁹Fe from Fe(II)-sulfate, Fe(III)-chloride, or Fe(III)-polymaltose were measured up to 28 h after dosing. Ferritin was determined by radioimmunoassay (RIA) and ⁵⁹Fe ferritin-iron by gel electrophoresis. Retention and liver content of ⁵⁹Fe was higher in ID rats than in controls. The mucosa of ID rats, however, retained only one third of the amount of ⁵⁹Fe retained by the mucosa of controls. The mucosal and hepatic ferritin levels were lower in ID rats than in controls. The percentage of orally administered ⁵⁹Fe found in the liver ferritin was therefore higher in control than in ID rats. However, when expressed as per unit of ferritin, iron uptake was eight times higher in ID rats. In contrast, mucosa ferritin of ID rats contained one-third of ⁵⁹Fe per unit of ferritin than that of controls. Assuming no change in the mechanism of iron uptake into ferritin of control and ID rats, the differential uptake of oral iron into mucosa and liver ferritin indicates either a different compartmentation of the tissue ferritin or differences in the iron transport processes, but mucosal ferritin does not withdraw iron from intestinal absorption.

KEY WORDS: • duodenal ferritin • ferritin iron • hepatic ferritin • iron absorption • iron deficiency

¹ The study was presented in part at the 7th meeting of the European Intestinal Transport Group, Fiskebäckskil, Sweden, 1986. (abstract in : Z. Gastroenterol. 25: 384, 1987).

² Author to whom reprint requests should be sent.

Manuscript received 14 March 1988. Revision accepted 4 October 1988.