title: Effect of nicotine on transferrin binding and iron uptake by cultured rat placenta.
abstract: The effect of nicotine on transferrin and iron transport in placental cells has been studied. Nicotine inhibits iron uptake but has little effect on the steady-state levels of transferrin. The effect is temperature and concentration dependent and is not reversible. At a concentration of 15 mM nicotine inhibited transferrin endocytosis by 40%, while iron uptake was decreased by nearly 60%. Nicotine exerted a similar effect on reticulocytes, but other amines, either tertiary or quaternary, had little or no effect on either iron uptake or steady-state intracellular transferrin levels. The results suggest that nicotine acts by blocking uptake, probably by acting as a weak base inhibiting iron release from transferrin, and inhibiting exocytosis with a resultant block of endocytosis. The concentrations required to exert an effect are too high to implicate inhibition of iron transport in the effects of smoking on pregnancy.
authors.affiliation: Raine Centre for the Study of Perinatal and Developmental Biology, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, W.A. 6009.
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: McArdle
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tysoe
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001692:Biological Transport / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004705:Endocytosis / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D007501:Iron / Q000378:metabolism*; D009538:Nicotine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010920:Placenta / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012156:Reticulocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D013696:Temperature; D014168:Transferrin / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D014168:Transferrin; D009538:Nicotine; D007501:Iron