Some effects of bleeding on the iron metabolism of normal and of starved turtles (Pseudemys scripta elegans)

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Abstract
The effects of bleeding on the short and long‐term iron metabolism of the turtle, Pseudemys scripta elegans, have been determined. Values are given for the plasma radioiron clearance and the clearance constant (K) in normal, bled‐normal and in unbled‐starved turtles. Clearance rates were increased by bleeding but were unaffected by starvation. The rate of the long‐term plasma radioiron clearance (normally slow) was augmented by bleeding in both normal and starved animals. Bleeding increased both the rate and magnitude of erythrocyte radioiron incorporation in normal but not in starved turtles. The distribution of injected 59Fe in plasma, erythrocytes, spleen, liver and duodenum is described for normal turtles. The time of availability of injected radioiron for splenic erythropoiesis was about two days, beginning on the second day after administration of the isotope. Storage of iron in the spleen appeared unlikely because of the decrease in spleen radioactivity noted from the fourth day on. This decrease was followed after two days by a similar decrease in circulating erythrocyte radioactivity. From the sixth to the fourteenth days after injection, radioiron moved to the liver and duodenum. It remains to be determined whether this migration represented storage or excretion of the iron.