Absorption of Iron from the Gastrointestinal Tract

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Abstract
An iron tolerance test, employing both stable and radioactive iron, has been evaluated in a series of healthy controls and in a series of patients with a variety of disease. The data for hourly serum recoveries of iron over a four-hour period, later recovery in hemoglobin of radioactive iron, and estimation of total iron absorption by stool analysis of radioactive iron are presented for both series. The effect of reduction of iron to the ferrous state on its absorption has again been demonstrated, and the relatively poor absorption of ferric iron has been substantiated. By the present tolerance test, increased absorption in iron-deficient patients has been demonstrated. The relative inaccuracy of serum values as an indication of iron absorption has been emphasized, and it is concluded that a radioactive ferrous iron tracer technique provides a more useful and reliable measurement of iron absorption than does the stable iron tolerance test.