Magnetic and structural study of the state of iron in the oral haematinic ferrimannitol ovoalbumin.

From magnetic and structural analyses performed on ferrimannitol ovalbumin, iron in this drug is observed to be present as two-line ferrihydrite nanoparticles, of around 4 nm in diameter, which are superparamagnetic above approximately 20 K. Among other parameters, the temperature dependence of the magnetic out-of-phase susceptibility of this compound has been fully characterised and yields results clearly different from that of ferritin. This characterisation, performed for the first time for an oral haematinic, is of interest in the context of future pharmacological studies of this compound.