HEMOGLOBIN IRON AS A STIMULUS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF FERRITIN BY THE KIDNEY

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Abstract
The presence of ferritin in the renal tissue of mice and rabbits was noted after intraperit. injns. of hemoglobin. The spleen of both animals and the liver of the mouse contained crystallizable amts. of ferritin. Ferritin was also found in the bone marrow and testes of the rabbit. The percentages of mice showing ferritin in the renal tissue increased with the size of the Hb dose. The evidence suggests that Hb, after being absorbed from the tubular lumen in hemoglobinuria, is split intracellularly and stored temporarily, as ferritin-iron. The possible significance of this phenomenon in hemoglobinuric nephrosis and the "lowered excretion threshold" to Hb after re-peated injns. is interpreted as due to a physiol. saturation of the ferritin iron-handling mechanism. This may result in a de-creased ability for reabsorption and results in the loss of an expedient mechanism for protecting the tissue from an accumulation of ferric hydroxide.