Liver damage in disorders of iron overload. A hypothesis.
The pathogenesis of liver damage in patients with iron loading disorders is not explained. Evidence concerning the following hypothesis is reviewed: Iron, absorbed from the intestinal tract when transferrin saturation is complete or almost so, remains unbound and is lost into the liver on first passage through the portal circulation. By still-to-be-determined molecular events, unbound iron is toxic to liver cells and produces progressive damage when this process occurs repeatedly.
D000437:Alcoholism / Q000150:complications; D000818:Animals; D056486:Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury; D006801:Humans; D007408:Intestinal Absorption; D007501:Iron / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000378:metabolism*; D014168:Transferrin / Q000378:metabolism
D014168:Transferrin; D007501:Iron