The correct ratio of all the necessary organic substances, vitamins, micro- and macroelements ensures a normal metabolism in the body, and this is achieved through sufficient intake of them with food, absorption in the small intestine and transportation to cells and tissues.
One of the most significant metals for humans is iron, since it is included in the structure of all porphyrin compounds, namely pigment proteins (hemoglobin, myoglobin), cytochromes, and is a coenzyme in many catalytic reactions. Due to its significant role, the body has a constant supply of it in the liver, bone marrow and spleen in the form of ferritin, and in many tissues in the form of hemosiderin. And in the blood there is a so-called. serum iron, that is, in conjunction with the transport protein transferrin. This reserve is used by the body in the first place, temporarily leaving the depot in tissues and organs intact. Moreover, it is equally involved both in iron deficiency and in its excess. Also, this indicator is labile depending on the time of day, age and gender. Thus, serum iron reaches itsmaximum in the morning and gradually decreases in the evening, and in men the concentration is higher than in women. Also, its fall is observed with age and during pregnancy.
The norm and reasons for deviations from it
The norm of serum iron in men is 11.64 - 30.43 µmol/l, while in women the lower limit of this indicator is an order of magnitude lower - only 8.95 µmol/l. Its content in the blood is significantly reduced with a deficiency in the intake of metal into the body (lack of food, pathological changes in the intestines that prevent its normal absorption), due to bleeding, with severe chronic diseases of the liver and kidneys, cholestatic syndrome, infections, and many others. others
On the contrary, serum iron increases with its excessive parenteral administration with drugs, blood transfusions, hemolysis of erythrocytes of an infectious or toxic nature, with hyperchromic anemia due to a deficiency of vitamins B9 and B12, with the use of certain drugs (estrogens, methotrexate, oral contraceptives, some antibiotics). Thus, this indicator is very labile, and also quite sensitive to metabolic and inflammatory changes in the body. In this regard, there is a special analysis for serum iron in the blood (the norm is indicated above). The fluctuations of this indicator are measured by the spectrophotometric method.
Subtleties of analysis
Indications for this analysis are severe intoxication, infectious andsystemic diseases, hypovitaminosis, differential diagnosis of anemic syndrome, as well as control of its therapy. Serum iron is measured in blood taken early in the morning on an empty stomach. At the same time, if the patient is not on inpatient treatment, it is important to warn him so that he stops taking iron supplements and nutritional supplements a week before the test, as this may distort the real value of the measured indicator.
