Trace Metal Patterns in Disease States: I. Hemochromatosis and Refractory Anemia

The Quantitative Estimation of Total Iron Stores in Human Bone Marrow

“…This suggests that the liver and marrow have a capacity to store iron that is of the same order. Although the relationship probably holds true when iron stores are normal or moderately increased, there is usually significant hepatomegaly when gross degrees of iron overload are present (3,5), and the liver's capacity is therefore increased. In quantitative terms, the highest marrow iron concentration obtained in the autopsy study was 8,647 jig per g. If it is presumed that the total marrow weight in this subject was 1,200 g, then the total marrow iron stores must have been approximately 10 g. This is about half the amount usually present in the liver in idiopathic hemochromatosis (3,5).…”

“…This iron exists in two forms: as a diffuse soluble fraction called ferritin, in which the molecules are dispersed, and as insoluble aggregates of hemosiderin, which can be visualized by conventional microscopy (2). Although the liver is regarded as the chief storage organ, chemical analyses suggest that it normally contains up to 300 mg (3)(4)(5), which is only between one-quarter and one-third of what can be mobilized from total stores when healthy young males are repeatedly phlebotomized (6). Although little is known of the quantities present in other organs, hemosiderin can be seen in the reticuloendothelial cells of the bone marrow (7) and spleen (8), and there is some chemical evidence to indicate that significant amounts of storage iron may be present in skeletal muscles (9, 10).…”

The Absorption of Nonferrous Metals in Iron Deficiency*

“…The cirrhosis of hemochromatosis has not been explained; large doses of parenteral iron given to animals do not lead to cirrhosis (9). Manganese or cobalt can produce cirrhosis when given parenterally (10)(11)(12)(13), but the possibility of their involvement in the cirrhosis of hemochromatosis has received scant attention (4).…”

Aluminum in the Environment and Human Health

“…Liver: The livers from patients with iron storage associated with Bantu siderosis, hemochromatosis, and sickle cell anemia as well as in alcoholics with cirrhosis and early hemochromatosis have been shown to contain less Al than normal (404)(405)(406). This observation could be reproduced in r'abbits and rats with the administration of iron.…”