Basis of Plasma Iron Exchange in the Rabbit

• Text
• PDF

Abstract

Rabbit transferrin in vitro is shown to load ferrous iron at random on its specific binding sites. The release of iron to reticulocytes is shown to be an all-or-none phenomenon. The two monoferric transferrins have similar in vivo plasma iron clearance rates and tissue distribution. Diferric transferrin, while giving a similar tissue distribution of radioiron, has a plasma iron clearance rate approximately twice that of the monoferric transferrins at low plasma iron concentrations. This difference diminishes as the plasma iron concentration increases. These results are consistent with a progressively greater in vivo conversion of mono- to diferric transferrin as transferrin saturation increases. The in vivo plasma iron turnover in the rabbit increases progressively as the plasma iron increases, from a mean value of ∼0.8 mg/dl whole blood per d at a plasma iron concentration of 50 μg/dl to 2.0 at a plasma iron concentration of 300.

Authors

Helmut Huebers, David Uvelli, Antonio Celada, Betty Josephson, Clement Finch