Effect of phlebotomy on the ferritin iron content in the rat liver as determined morphometrically with the use of electron energy loss spectroscopy.

Phlebotomy of untreated and iron-loaded rats results in a significant decrease in total liver iron. In iron-loaded rats a marked decrease in iron-containing particles is observed ultrastructurally in lysosomes and cytoplasm of hepatic sinusoidal cells but not in parenchymal cells. This remarkable phenomenon was further investigated in a morphometric study, based on element-specific (iron) distribution images made in situ in the parenchymal cell by means of electron energy loss spectroscopy. With the use of this technique it could be shown that in spite of phlebotomy the ferritin iron content of the iron-loaded liver parenchymal cell is not decreased.