Ikuta Katsuya, Torimoto Yoshihiro, Kohgo Yutaka
Division of Gastroenterology and Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, Asahikawa Medical College.
Nihon Rinsho. 2008 Mar;66(3):469-74.
Iron is essential for all living organisms. Iron is taken up from the foods by enterocytes of the duodenum and proximal jejunum, and then released into the plasma and transported to whole body by binding to transferrin. Transferrin-bound iron is utilized mainly for erythropoiesis at the bone marrow, in which iron is essential for the formation of heme. Recently, a new anti-microbial peptide, named hepcidin, was identified, and hepcidin is found to function as the regulator of body iron metabolism by inhibiting iron uptake at enterocyte and iron release from reticuloendothelial macrophages. Hepcidin is produced by hepatocytes, and the expression is modulated by inflammation so that hepcidin is thought to be involved in the pathophysiology of anemia of chronic disease. Research in the iron metabolism field has been developing rapidly these years, and the new innovational therapies for the disease caused by the dysregulation of iron metabolism are expected.
铁对所有生物都至关重要。十二指肠和空肠近端的肠上皮细胞从食物中摄取铁，然后释放到血浆中，并通过与转铁蛋白结合运输到全身。与转铁蛋白结合的铁主要用于骨髓中的红细胞生成，其中铁对于血红素的形成至关重要。最近，一种名为铁调素的新型抗菌肽被鉴定出来，发现铁调素通过抑制肠上皮细胞对铁的摄取和网状内皮巨噬细胞释放铁来发挥身体铁代谢调节剂的作用。铁调素由肝细胞产生，其表达受炎症调节，因此铁调素被认为参与了慢性病贫血的病理生理过程。近年来，铁代谢领域的研究发展迅速，人们期待针对铁代谢失调引起的疾病的新创新疗法。
