The Role of Hepatic Iron Stores in the Control of Iron Absorption.

The mechanisms that regulate iron absorption l)y the gastrointestinal tract are not known. Clinical and experimental work suggests that decreased iron stores (1-3) or increased rate of erythropoiesis (2, 4) may be factors causing increased absorption of iron from the gut. The purpose of this paper is to describe the role of the hepatic iron stores as a stimulus to intestinal absorption of iron. In the rat subjected to partial hepatectomy, the liver returns to its original presurgical weight between the seventh and fourteenth postoperative days (5). This is due to a generalized hyperplasia of the remaining lobes rather than to the regeneration of the removed lobe or to growth of a new appendage. Thus there is a reduction in the total size and concentration of the hepatic iron stores without blood-letting or marrow hyperplasia.