Nature of nontransferrin-bound iron.
Nontransferrin-bound iron is now recognized to exist by many workers. It is present in the serum of patients suffering from a wide range of disease states and may be induced by certain therapeutic treatments. The chemical nature of this iron pool is unknown but almost certainly it is a multicomponent pool including a considerable proportion of protein-bound iron. Methods are required to separate and quantify these different components. The biological properties of the individual isoforms need to be established; it is possible that some forms are relatively nontoxic, while others are highly toxic. This paper reviews what is known about the nature of nontransferrin-bound iron and describes the methods currently available to quantify this important serum component.
Hider
Robert C
RC
Department of Pharmacy, King's College London, Franklin-Wilkins Building, 150 Stamford Street, London SE1 9NN, UK. robert.hider@kcl.ac.uk
D019281:Dimerization; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood* / Q000737:chemistry*; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000378:metabolism; D014168:Transferrin / Q000378:metabolism
D012709:Serum Albumin; D014168:Transferrin; D007501:Iron