Role of the liver in normal iron metabolism.

An integrated approach to normal hepatic iron metabolism requires an understanding of the complex interactions between the dynamic processes of iron uptake, utilization, storage, and release. Lack of knowledge of the specific chemical and physical properties of certain critical compartments of hepatic iron (such as the transit pool and hemosiderin) and of their relative turnover rates has made it extremely difficult to assign precise parameters to their dynamic interactions. With refinement in biochemical and biophysical techniques and with their application to valid biologic models, it should be possible to obtain insights into these areas, which are currently obscure.