Transferrin: physiologic behavior and clinical implications
HA Huebers and CA Finch
The transferrin iron transport system, along with its procurement sites and
delivery receptors, provides a highly effective means of satisfying
internal iron requirements. Iron uptake by individual tissues is determined
by their receptor number, by the relative amounts of monoferric and
diferric transferrin in circulation, and by the amount of available iron in
donor tissues. Although the modus operandi of this system under basal
conditions has been characterized, its exquisite regulation remains an
enigma. In some manner, the procurement of iron is determined by iron
requirements. What seems to be an inappropriate behavior of the absorptive
mechanism in thalassemia and certain other erythroid overload states may
actually be life-saving in the absence of transfusion, since it results in
higher levels of plasma iron and thereby higher levels of erythropoiesis.
The definition of the regulatory mechanism in such conditions may well lead
to an understanding of the molecular defect in idiopathic hemochromatosis.
Volume 64,
Issue 4,
pp. 763-767,
10/01/1984
Copyright © 1984 by The American Society of Hematology
