PATTERNS OF IRON STORAGE IN DIETARY IRON OVERLOAD AND IDIOPATHIC HEMOCHROMATOSIS

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  • 1 January 1976
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 88  (5) , 725-731
Abstract
Bone marrow Fe stores rise in proportion to the total body Fe store in dietary Fe overload. The situation in the genetic disorder of idiopathic hemochromatosis is not as clear, so a method for measuring the storage Fe concentration chemically on samples of bone marrow obtained by trephine needle biopsy was developed. Its value as a measure of tissue Fe stores was established in a preliminary investigation in which specimens of liver, spleen and bone marrow were obtained at necropsies on 66 South African Negroes among whom dietary Fe overload is common. A wide range of nonheme Fe concentrations was found, but in each individual there was a highly significant correlation between the concentrations in the 3 tissues. Nonheme Fe concentrations were then determined on trephine bone marrow biopsy specimens from 8 Caucasian patients with untreated idiopathic hemochromatosis and on percutaneous liver biopsy specimens from 4 of them. The concentrations in the livers were in the anticipated range of 5,000 .mu.g/g wet wt (2% dry wt). The geometric mean value for bone marrow Fe concentration was 186 .mu.g/g wet wt, a figure that fell below the 50th percentile for marrow Fe concentrations in the South African Negroes, whereas the geometric mean liver Fe concentration was above the 90th percentile. Subjects with idiopathic hemochromatosis whose liver Fe stores are grossly increased do not show a comparable rise in bone marrow Fe stores.