[Influence of the degree of saturation of iron stores on the gastrointestinal absorption of aluminum].

The possible influence of iron metabolism in the regulation of aluminum gastrointestinal absorption in male Wistar rats has been studied. Three groups were considered: Fe overloaded Group 1; Fe normal Group 2; Fe depleted Group 3. All groups were exposed during 45 days to 40 mg of Al(OH)3 investigating the concentration of Al in serum and urine throughout the experiment and also the Al in brain at the end of that period. Results demonstrated that 24 h urinary Al excretion was significantly higher in Fe depleted rats than in Fe overloaded animals (p less than 0.01 and p less than 0.05 respectively). In addition, Al in brain showed the same pattern of deposition yielding in the Fe depleted rats nearly a three fold increase in the concentration of Al. By contrast, serum Al did not show any particular trend. These findings are in agreement with the fact that Fe metabolism may modulate Al gastrointestinal absorption suggesting that Al and Fe might share the same mechanism of gastrointestinal absorption.