LACTOFERRIN AND IRON ABSORPTION IN THE SMALL INTESTINE

Abstract

Abstract. Lactoferrin (LF), an iron‐binding protein, has been studied in (1) duodenal fluid of 16 hematologi‐cally normal patients, (2) duodenal fluid of 9 patients with iron overload (idiopathic and secondary hemosiderosis), (3) T‐drain bile of 14 cholecystectomized patients. Patients with iron overload show on an average lower LF values in the duodenal fluid than normal individuals. This relation with iron metabolism is also present in the group of normal controls: higher iron and iron saturation levels of the plasma are accompanied by lower LF values. In the first days after cholecystectomy this relation is lost. Purified human LF, brought into the duodenum, distinctly inhibits iron absorption in the intestine during the first hours of absorption. However, this effect is absent in patients with idiopathic hemosiderosis.