title: Iron in human milk.
abstract: The distribution of iron among various fractions of human milk was determined by gel filtration, ultrafiltration, and atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Total iron varied between 0.26 and 0.73 microgram/ml; 1.5 to 46% of the iron was bound to the lipid fraction and 18 to 56% was found in a low molecular weight fraction. Only a small amount of iron was bound to lactoferrin, the major iron-binding protein of human milk; the iron saturation of this protein was found to be 1 to 4%, at the most. Thus, much less iron is bound to lactoferrin than earlier reported; this may be important in regard to the suggested role of this protein as a bacteriostatic agent. A correlation was found between iron and fat content during the course of a single nursing, but not between iron and lactoferrin.
mesh_terms: D001682:Biological Availability; D002850:Chromatography, Gel; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D007781:Lactoferrin / Q000032:analysis; D008055:Lipids / Q000032:analysis; D008895:Milk, Human / Q000032:analysis*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011485:Protein Binding; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic; D014168:Transferrin / Q000032:analysis; D014462:Ultrafiltration
chemical_list: D008055:Lipids; D014168:Transferrin; D007501:Iron; D007781:Lactoferrin