Ruth M. Leverton

The absorption of iron from ferrous sulfate with observations on hemoglobin changes and the influence of certain intestinal protozoa

1. n nFifty studies of the absorption and excretion of iron from a daily supplement of 126 mg. of iron, given in the form of six grains of ferrous sulfate, were made on 46 healthy college women. n n n n n2. n nThe daily absorption of iron by all the subjects averaged slightly more than fifty per cent of the daily iron intake, whether the ferrous sulfate was given for only one week or for several weeks. n n n n n3. n nThis daily absorption for five or six weeks led to a total average storage of 3,225 mg. of iron, which practically doubled the amount of iron calculated to be present normally in the adult female body. n n n n n4. n nDespite the retention of the large amounts of iron there were no significant changes in the hemoglobin values. n n n n n5. n nTwenty-one subjects infected with E. histolytica. or with other non-pathogenic amoebae and various flagellates, absorbed the same amount of iron before and after the administration of a protozoacide. n n n n n6. n nThese twenty-one subjects also absorbed the same amount of iron as the control subjects who were not infected with the micro-organisms. n n n n n7. n nThe average amount of iron absorbed, 76.79 mg. per day, by the subjects who received the supplement for five or six weeks was as great as that reported in the literature for subjects who received eight times this amount of iron, or the usual medicinal dose. n n n n n8. n nDuring the thirty days that followed a week of iron supplementation the body did not release or excrete the iron that had been absorbed from the supplement. n n n n n9. n nThere was no indication that the body has any ability to control the iron content of the body by excretion or absorption.