Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Human iron metabolism is the set of chemical reactions that maintain human homeostasis of iron at the systemic and cellular level. Iron is both necessary to the body and potentially toxic. Controlling iron levels in the body is a critically important part of many aspects of human health and disease.
Parts-per-million cube of relative abundance by mass of elements in an average adult human body down to 1 ppm. About 99% of the mass of the human body is made up of six elements: oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus. Only about 0.85% is composed of another five elements: potassium, sulfur, sodium, chlorine, and magnesium ...
Absorption of dietary iron in iron salt form (as in most supplements) varies somewhat according to the body's need for iron, and is usually between 10% and 20% of iron intake. Absorption of iron from animal products, and some plant products, is in the form of heme iron, and is more efficient, allowing absorption of from 15% to 35% of intake.
The body of an adult human contains about 4 grams (0.005% body weight) of iron, mostly in hemoglobin and myoglobin. These two proteins play essential roles in oxygen transport by blood and oxygen storage in muscles. To maintain the necessary levels, human iron metabolism requires a minimum of iron in the diet.
Roughly 5 grams of iron are present in the human body and is the most abundant trace metal. [1] It is absorbed in the intestine as heme or non-heme iron depending on the food source. Heme iron is derived from the digestion of hemoproteins in meat. [4] Non-heme iron is mainly derived from plants and exist as iron(II) or iron(III) ions. [4]
Iron deficiency, or sideropenia, is the state in which a body lacks enough iron to supply its needs. Iron is present in all cells in the human body and has several vital functions, such as carrying oxygen to the tissues from the lungs as a key component of the hemoglobin protein, acting as a transport medium for electrons within the cells in the form of cytochromes, and facilitating oxygen ...
Hemosiderin or haemosiderin is an iron-storage complex that is composed of partially digested ferritin and lysosomes. The breakdown of heme gives rise to biliverdin and iron. [1] [2] The body then traps the released iron and stores it as hemosiderin in tissues. [3] Hemosiderin is also generated from the abnormal metabolic pathway of ferritin. [3]
The human body has no controlled mechanism for excretion of iron. [23] This can lead to iron overload problems in patients treated with blood transfusions , as, for instance, with β- thalassemia . Iron is actually excreted in urine [ 24 ] and is also concentrated in bile [ 25 ] which is excreted in feces.