title: Iron supplement to blood donors. I. Trials with intermittent iron supply.
abstract: A series of 58 male blood donors has been studied with regard to stainable bone marrow iron, desferrioxamine test, sideroblasts, total iron-binding capacity, serum iron, and haemoglobin values. With one conventional blood donation every second month the storage iron was found to be significantly decreased after four blood donations both when placebo and oral ferrous iron in doses of up to 2000 mg were given over a period of two weeks after each blood-letting. The iron state in donors given 2000 mg was superior to that in donors given 1000 mg, and better in the latter group than when placebo was given. A moderate increase in the total iron-binding capacity could be discerned in subjects treated with placebo or only 1000 mg iron after each donation, but no changes in serum iron or haemoglobin were noted. A smaller series of 13 donors was also investigated after six donations and was found to show essentially the same pattern in the iron state variables as after four donations. When the interval between donations was four months and 2000 mg ferrous iron was given over two weeks after each donation, all variables including the amount of bone marrow iron and the desferrioxamine test remained unchanged in ten subjects after four donations. Two subjects showed a moderate decrease in the stainable bone marrow iron, but it did not disappear completely.
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001782:Blood Donors; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000378:metabolism; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003676:Deferoxamine; D004906:Erythrocyte Count; D006452:Hemoglobinometry; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010919:Placebos; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins; D010919:Placebos; D007501:Iron; D003676:Deferoxamine