Iron is a trace element, which is a group of minerals present in small quantities in the body. Other trace elements include copper, zinc, selenium, manganese and iodine. These minerals cannot be synthesized by the body and must therefore be supplied in the diet. Iron is the most common trace element in the human body; adult males have approximately 3.5 g iron in total, or 50 mg per kg body weight while females have about 2g total iron or 35 mg per kg bodyweight. Iron can exist in oxidation states from -2 to +6, but mainly exists in the ferrous (+2) and ferric (+3) states in biological systems. As iron has the ability to accept and donate electrons readily, it can interconvert between these two forms with ease. Thus, iron can participate in …show more content…
However, free iron can cause significant damage to body tissues, by catalysing the breakdown of hydrogen peroxide to free radical ions such as hydroxyl and hydroperoxyl, which react with cell membranes, proteins and DNA (Andrews, 1999). In order to prevent this from occurring, iron within the body is bound to proteins. These can be divided into three broad categories, haem proteins, iron sulphur proteins and iron containing proteins which do not contain haem or sulphur. Haem proteins are a group of proteins which contain haem as a prosthetic group. Haem is an organic compound consisting of one ferrous (Fe2+) ion surrounded by a porphyrin ring, which consists of four pyrrole rings connected by methene bridges. The iron atom is bonded to the nitrogen atoms of the four pyrrole rings, and can also form two additional bonds, one on each side of the haem plane, called the fifth and sixth coordination sites. The fifth coordination site is bound by histidine while the sixth is unoccupied. Haem proteins carry out a range of biological functions, including oxygen transport and storage and electron transfer. Haemoglobin and myoglobin, the major oxygen
First, a molecule of hydrogen peroxide oxidizes the heme to an oxyferryl species. One oxygen atom is extracted and attached to the iron atom, and the rest is released as harmless water. Then, a second hydrogen peroxide molecule, which acts as a decreasing proxy to regenerate the resting enzyme state, is also broken apart and the pieces are combined with the iron-bound
High oxidative a stress is known to cause global cellular damage by creating reactive oxygen species (ROS) which causes damage to proteins, lipids and DNA (15, 82). Oxidative stress increases protein phosphorylation, causing changes to signaling pathways. For example, several phosphatases involved in cancer, apoptosis and aging are inactivated under conditions of high oxidative stress (26). ROS is a known contributor to several diseases including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, kidney disease, and T2DM (25, 27, 105). Known mediators of oxidative stress include transition metals and mitochondrial dysfunction (15, 27). In this project, I will be studying how cellular iron regulation causes an increase in oxidative stress, contributing to cellular damage and disease. Aconitase is an important mediator of oxidative stress, metabolism and iron regulation.
Most of the aluminium in plasma is bound to the iron-transporting protein transferrin. Aluminium accumulates in areas of the brain with the highest concentration of transferrin receptors such as the cortex, hippocampus and amygdala; the same areas vulnerable to the development of Alzhiemer disease. The distribution of Aluminium in the brain reflects the neurones with the highest requirements for iron. The entry of aluminium into the brain mediated through transferrin.
Iron is called a trace mineral, but its effects are mighty. We need it to produce hemoglobin, the oxygen carrier in red blood cells that brings oxygen to the rest of the body. Iron is also needed to produce myoglobin, the oxygen reservoir in the muscle cells.
Typically the human body is able to tell when it has a sufficient amount of iron stored and stops taking it in; this is not what happens
Hemochromatosis is a disease which makes your body absorb all of the iron in food, instead of regulating iron intake. Hemochromatosis “attacks” the entire body, especially the places where most of the iron normally goes: the bloodstream and liver. Some symptoms of this disease are bone and joint discomfort, liver problems, irregular heartbeat, and an unusual bronzing of the skin. Armand Trousseau first described it in 1865 as Diabetes bronze, due to people with diabetes showing the bronze-skin symptom. It was thought to be quite rare at the time. About “⅓ or ¼ of people of Western European descent have th...
Kidney dialysis comes at a price. With chronic kidney disease (CKD), there can be problems with iron depletion. Dialysis slowly depletes a patient of iron. On average, about 5-7 mg of iron is lost in each session. Until recently, the main way doctors tried to compensate for this loss was by adding 100 mg of iron into the bloodstream. This treatment comes with risks of oxidative stress and can cause liver damage. A new drug has recently been in the news and seems to help greatly with this problem. The drug is called Triferic. Triferic mimics the way iron is absorbed into the body naturally. The absorption gradually goes to the body’s bone marrow and helps to maintain levels of hemoglobin. Triferic is still in the trial stages with 3 successful trials done so far. It very well may become an integrated treatment for those with CKD. (Glatter, 2013)
According to the details given in case study, Ms. A has iron deficiency anemia. Iron deficiency anemia is the most common type of anemia. It is a condition where the blood lacks enough red blood cells (Clark, 2008). When there are a low number of red blood cells, it makes transportation of oxygen to parts of the body very difficult. Iron deficiency is type of anemia due to the lack of iron in the body. Without the proper amount of iron in the body, it cannot produce enough hemoglobin and since hemoglobin is the main carrier of oxygen, low levels of it can lead to tiredness and shortness of breath (Copstead, Banasik, 2010).
Each red blood cell in the human body contains about 280 million hemoglobin molecules. Hemoglobin is the most important component of red blood cells. Red blood cells are composed of a protein (globulin) and a molecule (heme), which binds to iron. Normal hemoglobin causes regular oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange. In the lungs, the heme, which binds to iron, component takes up oxygen and releases carbon dioxide. The red blood cells carry the oxygen to the body's tissues, where ...
During the process of metabolism between 20 and 45 % of the transferrin sites are full. Very little of the bound iron formed (0.1%) in all of the body is moving towards the transferrin. Any of the iron that was absorbed is used for erythropoiesis in t...
Iron comes from the Latin word ferrum. From ferrum its symbol became Fe. The atomic number of iron is 26, and its atomic weight is 55.845. Iron is a magnetic, bendable, shiny white metallic element.
Peroxidases contain haem proteins and have prosthetic group of iron (III) protoporphyrin IX (ferriprotoporphyrin IX). This is an assembly of oxidoreductases which catalyze the peroxiase reduction, like H2O2 and the oxidation of different inorganic and organic complexes (Hamid and Rehman., 2009).
The Haem group provides a binding site for the oxygen molecule this is because oxygen exists as O2- ; oxygen is able to bind with the positively charged Fe2+, this allows haemoglobin to carry oxygen around the body.
Iron Deficiency Anemia affects millions of individuals across the world. This disease strikes many more women than men and has harmful effects on all who suffer from this deficiency that causes oxygen-carrying capacity to decrease. The causes can vary amongst different groups, but the aggravating symptoms remain constant. Much of the research on Iron Deficiency Anemia concentrates on not only the treatment of this disease, but also the prevention of it. To attain a better understanding of how to treat this problem, one must clearly know what Iron Deficiency Anemia means, what causes this disease, the effects of it, and finally how to cure it.
Overall all the different forms of anaemia are caused due to lack of healthy red blood cells or haemoglobin in the blood. Both of these are important for the transportation of oxygen through the blood around the body. The period during pregnancy is one of the very important time frames for the causes of anaemia as the mother can lack iron in her blood cause an impact on the unborn baby so many babies are born with this deficiency and therefore causes the disorder to been hereditary. The causes are if the rate of iron loss or use is more than the rate of absorption. This is a a matter that occurs very often and is very common in pregnant women this obviously indicates that intake of iron before pregnancy is poor [4]. However iron deficiency is the most neglected nutrient deficiency in the world, particularly among pregnant women and children in developing countries [7]. In a pregnant women when the theres a increase in the red cell mass the haemoglobin is effected. The haemoglobin levels are effected during the beginning of a pregannacy and duing the end of it. During the beginning there is a decrease and towards the end there is a increase. The rason to why there is a increase during the early period is the because of...