The causes of an increase and decrease in iron in the blood

At some pathological conditions and diseases the maintenance of iron in blood serum changes.

The most important diseases, syndromes, signs of deficiency and excess iron in the human body

Diseases, syndromes and signs of iron deficiency

Diseases, syndromes and signs of excess iron

Hypochromic anemia Myoglobin-deficient myocardiopathy Atrophic rhinitis Atrophic glossitis Dysgeusia and anorexia Gingivitis and cheilitis Hereditary and congenital sideropenic atrophy of the nasal mucosa, fetid runny nose (ozena) Iron deficiency esophagopathy (in 5-20% of dysphagia) The Plummer-Vinson Syndrome (in 4-16% of cases, precancer and esophagus cancer) Atrophic gastritis Myoglobin-deficient atony of skeletal muscles Coylonikhia and other trophic changes of nails

Hereditary hemochromatosis Myocardiopathy with endocardial hyperelastosis (cardiac siderosis) Hepatosis with pigment cirrhosis Siderosis and fibrosis of the pancreas Bronze Diabetes Splenomegaly Hypogenitalism Secondary siderosis in thalassemia and other diseases Professional siderosis of the lungs and siderosis of the eye Iatrogenic transfusion siderosis Allergic Purpura Local lipomiodystrophy at the site of intramuscular injections of iron preparations

Iron deficiency (hypoxidosis, iron deficiency anemia) is one of the most common human diseases. The forms of their clinical manifestations are diverse and range from latent conditions to severe progressive diseases that can lead to typical organ and tissue damage and even to death. At present, it is generally accepted that the diagnosis of iron deficiency states should be made before the development of the complete picture of the disease, that is, before the onset of hypochromic anemia. When the deficiency of iron affects the whole body, and hypochromic anemia - late stage of the disease.

Modern methods for the early diagnosis of hyposiderosis include the determination of serum iron concentration, total iron binding capacity of serum (OCS), transferrin and ferritin in serum.

Metabolism of iron in various types of anemia

Metabolic parameters of iron	Reference value	Iron deficiency anemia	Infectious tumor anemia	Disturbance of heme globin synthesis
Serum blood, μg / dl
men	65-175	<50	<50	> 180
women	50-170	<40	<40	> 170
OLC, μg / dL	250-425	> 400	180	200
Saturation coefficient,%	15-54	<15	<15	> 60
Ferritin, μg / l	20-250	<10-12	> 150	160-1000

The excess iron content in the body is called "siderosis" or "hypersiderosis", "hemosiderosis". It can have a local and generalized character. There are exogenous and endogenous siderosis. Exogenous siderosis is often observed in miners involved in the development of red iron ore, in electric welders. Siderosis miners can be expressed in massive deposits of iron in the lung tissue. Local siderosis develops when iron fragments enter the tissue. In particular, isolated siderosis of the eyeball with the deposition of iron oxide hydrate in the ciliary body, the epithelium of the anterior chamber, the lens, the retina and the optic nerve.

Endogenous siderosis most often has a hemoglobin origin and is the result of increased destruction of this pigment of blood in the body.

Hemosiderin is an aggregate of iron hydroxide, combined with proteins, glycosaminoglycans and lipids. Hemosiderin is formed inside cells of mesenchymal and epithelial nature. Focal deposition of hemosiderin, as a rule, is observed at the site of hemorrhage. From hemosiderosis should be distinguished tissue "ferruginism", which occurs when impregnating certain structures (for example, elastic fibers) and cells (for example, neurons of the brain) with colloidal iron (in Pick's disease, some hyperkinesia, brown lung induration). A special form of hereditary deposits of hemosiderin, arising from ferritin as a result of the disturbance of cellular metabolism, is hemochromatosis. In this disease, especially large iron deposits are observed in the liver, pancreas, kidneys, in the cells of the mononuclear phagocyte system, the mucous glands of the trachea, in the thyroid gland, the epithelium of the tongue and muscles. The most common primary or idiopathic hemochromatosis is a hereditary disease characterized by a disruption in the metabolism of iron-containing pigments, increased absorption in the intestine of iron, and accumulation of iron in tissues and organs with the development of pronounced changes in them.

With an excess of iron in the body, deficiency of copper and zinc may develop.

Determination of serum iron gives an idea of the amount of transported iron in blood plasma associated with transferrin. Large variations in iron content in the blood serum, the possibility of its increase with necrotic processes in tissues and a decrease in inflammatory processes limit the diagnostic significance of this study. Defining only the content of iron in the blood serum, it is not possible to obtain information about the causes of impaired iron metabolism. To do this, it is necessary to determine the concentration in the blood of transferrin and ferritin.