Intestinal Absorption of Hemoglobin Iron-Heme Cleavage by Mucosal Heme Oxygenase

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Abstract

Hemoglobin and myoglobin are a major source of dietary iron in man. Heme, separated from these hemoproteins by intraluminal proteolysis, is absorbed intact by the intestinal mucosa. The absorbed heme is cleaved in the mucosal cell releasing inorganic iron. Although this mucosal heme-splitting activity initially was ascribed to xanthine oxidase, we investigated the possibility that it is catalyzed by microsomal heme oxygenase, an enzyme which converts heme to bilirubin, CO, and inorganic iron.

Authors

Steven B. Raffin, Choong H. Woo, Kenneth T. Roost, David C. Price, Rudi Schmid