ABSORPTION OF FERROUS AND FERRIC RADIOACTIVE IRON BY HUMAN SUBJECTS AND BY DOGS 1

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Abstract
Comparison was made in the same "normal" and Fe-deficient human subjects, and in the same "normal" and Fe-deficient dogs, of the extents to which comparable test doses of ferrous and ferric radioactive Fe were assimilated. The quantity of Fe given (under fasting conditions) varied from 1-4 mg. of Fe per kg. of body wt. The amt. of radioactive Fe which subsequently appeared as Hb in the peripheral blood was used as the measure of the amt. absorbed. Human subjects absorbed 1 1/2 to 15 times more ferrous than ferric Fe; dogs either absorbed both valence forms equally or showed preferential assimilation of ferrous salts. Because spp. of animals have been shown to differ in this respect, discussion of the valence form in which Fe is most readily absorbed from the intestinal tract vshould be related to the spp. under consideration.
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