HealthyPIG Magazine

Iron is an essential element for various metabolic processes in the body, including DNA synthesis, electron transport, and oxygen transport. Unlike other minerals, iron levels in the body are controlled solely through absorption. The mechanism of iron excretion is an unregulated process through sweat loss, menstruation, shedding of hair and skin cells, and rapid turnover and excretion of intestinal cells. In the human body, iron is found mainly in red blood cells in the form of the heme compound hemoglobin (about 2 g of iron in men and about 1.5 g in women), with smaller amounts in storage compounds (ferritin and hemosiderin), and as Myoglobin form is found in muscle cells. Iron is also found bound to proteins (heme) and non-heme enzymes (cytochromes and catalases) involved in redox reactions and electron transfer.
In addition, approximately 2.2% of total body iron is found in the so-called labile pool, a poorly defined reactive iron pool that forms reactive oxygen species via Fenton reactions in complex with drug classes called chelators . Iron chelators treat iron overload, a condition often caused by blood transfusion therapy used to treat thalassemia and other anemias.