Iron preparation and Human iron metabolism

Iron preparations are iron supplement preparations for the prevention and treatment of iron deficiency anemia.Examples of iron preparations include ferrous sulfate, ferrous gluconate, and ferrous fumarate.It can be given orally, or by injection into a vein or muscle.Iron preparations stimulate red blood cell production.This action is mediated by various iron-binding proteins in the body, such as ferritin and transferrin.After transfer to bone marrow cells, iron forms a complex with the heme protein for hemoglobin synthesis.Different dosage forms of iron preparations have different absorption mechanisms.Iron in oral iron preparations is absorbed by the intestine and released into the blood through transporters and carrier proteins.The iron in parenteral iron formulations requires release by macrophages of the surrounding complexes.After reaching the bloodstream, it becomes part of the endogenous iron pool and establishes normal body iron distribution, metabolism and elimination.Iron poisoning is a fatal disease.Plasma iron becomes toxic due to saturation of the iron-binding protein ferritin, promoting mitochondrial peroxidative damage, which leads to cell death.The clinical course of iron poisoning is divided into four clinical stages, namely gastrointestinal damage, improvement, metabolic acidosis and liver failure, and intestinal obstruction caused by scarring[8][9]. Whole bowel irrigation and iron chelation for iron poisoning.

Mechanism of action 

Iron supplements promote erythropoiesis, which increases red blood cell (RBC) production and oxygen delivery in the circulatory system. Non-heme iron is transported across the apical membrane by divalent metal transporter 1 (DMT1), whereas heme iron is transported by heme carrier protein 1 (HCP1) in the small intestine.Iron is then bound and stored in macrophages as ferritin, increasing iron stores in the body.Ferritin is then converted to an absorbable form of Fe2+, which binds to transferrin, an iron transport protein in circulation.Elevated levels of transferrin carried to bone marrow cells stimulate red blood cell production, which facilitates oxygen delivery in the blood.

Human iron metabolism

Human iron metabolism is a set of chemical reactions that maintain iron homeostasis in the body at the systemic and cellular levels. Iron is both necessary for the body and potentially toxic.Controlling iron levels in the body is a vital part of many aspects of human health and disease.Hematologists are particularly interested in whole-body iron metabolism because iron is essential for red blood cells, which contain most of the body's iron.Understanding iron metabolism is also important for understanding iron overload disorders (such as hereditary hemochromatosis) and iron deficiency disorders (such as iron deficiency anemia).