Blood, 1958, Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 146-155.
© 1958 American Society of Hematology, Inc.
The Effects of Acute Protein Depletion on the Distribution
of Radioiron in Rat Tissues
W. F. BETHARD 1,
R. W. WISSLER 1,
J. S. THOMPSON 1,
M. A. SCHROEDER 1, and
M. J. ROBSON 1
1 Departments of Medicine and Pathology and the Argonne Cancer Research
Hospital of the University of Chicago, Illinois, and the Argonne National Laboratory,
Lemont, Illinois.
1. The distribution of Fe59 in plasma, bone marrow, erythrocytes, liver, and
spleen was determined at specified intervals after single intravenous injections
of the radioisotope into normal and protein-deficient rats.
2. In normal rats, injected radioiron followed the usual metabolic pathways; i.e., through bone marrow to erythrocytes, with small, consistent amounts
to liver and spleen.
3. In protein-deficient animals normal Fe59 time-concentration relationships
were disrupted completely.
4. Less iron was recovered from the tissues of protein-deficient rats than
from normal animals.
5. Storage iron in liver and spleen was not conjugated with polysaccharide,
even though tissue protein was seriously depleted.
Submitted on June 27, 1957
Accepted on September 15, 1957
