Bleomycin in the presence of iron(II) degrades DNA to form a thiobarbituric acid-reactive product. This has been made the basis of a specific assay method for 'free' iron in biological fluids. Human synovial fluid, human cerebrospinal fluid and rat pleural-exudate fluid were found to contain micromolar concentrations of 'free' iron, which would be sufficient to allow formation of the hydroxyl r...

Studies of the obligate chemoautotrophic iron bacteria have been largely descriptive in character. This situation is not due to any lack of interest in the physiology and biochemistry of these bacteria, but rather to the inability to grow them in large numbers, and the attendant problem of harvesting cells free from the voluminous precipitate of iron that accompanies growth. Silverman and Lundg...

Use of a Prussian-blue histochemical method shows iron in some but not all hepatic melanomacrophages of turtle, alligator, caiman and anole. The hypothesis prompted is that melanomacrophages in general synthesize melanin to render less noxious free radicals arising from catalysis by the iron.

Iron is the fourth most abundant element on Earth and is essential for almost all living organisms. However, it is not accessible to cells in every environment. Ferric iron solubility is low at physiological pH, and in aerobic environments, ferrous iron is highly toxic. Thus, iron is not free but bound to proteins [Clarke et al., 2001; Taylor and Kelly, 2010]. In complex organisms, the majority...

Iron promotes DNA damage by catalyzing hydroxyl radical formation. We examined the effect of chromatin structure on DNA susceptibility to oxidant damage. Oxygen radicals generated by H2O2, ascorbate and iron-ADP (1:2 ratio of Fe2+:ADP) extensively and randomly fragmented protein-free DNA, with double-strand breaks demonstrable even at 1 microM iron. In contrast, polynucleosomes from chicken ery...

introduction: children’s iron deficiency anemia is the most common nutritional problem; it plays an important role in reducing the child’s scientific and practical abilities. this study aims at reviewing the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia in 1 to 6 year old children referring to the city health care centers in jahrom. material and methods: this is a descriptive-analytical and cross-sectio...

The iron (III) complex of diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA iron [III]) protected mice and baboons from the lethal effects of an infusion with live LD100 Escherichia coli. In mice, optimal results were obtained when DTPA iron (III) was administered two or more hours after infection. Prevention of death occurred in spite of the fact that the adverse effects of TNF-alpha were well underwa...

BACKGROUND Liver iron deposits are frequent in viral C cirrhotic patients but their role is not well defined. AIMS To investigate the effect of liver iron excess on the prevalence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with viral C cirrhosis. METHODS Hepatic iron was evaluated retrospectively using a semiquantitative method in liver biopsies of 104 viral C cirrhotic patients, 48 with...

To assess the relevance of altered iron metabolism, hemoglobin electrophoresis by isoelectric focusing was performed for 16 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) from the Liver Unit, Yangon General Hospital. Serum iron, total iron binding capacity, serum ferritin and free iron were also determined. Hemoglobin A (HbA) was found in all of the cases. Four cases had one extra band, hemoglobin A(2...

Abnormal deposition of hemichrome on the inner aspect of the sickle red cell membrane promotes premature cell demise. The steps proximate to hemichrome formation in these cells are poorly understood. To test the hypothesis that the pathologic deposits of free ferric iron located on the inner aspect of sickle cell membranes would be redox active and promote oxidation of soluble oxyhemoglobin, we...