[Iron metabolism and erythropoiesis in the prenatal and early postnatal periods of the rat].

Spectrophotometric studies have been made on iron balance in the liver, spleen, bone marrow, and blood serum of 15-, 17- and 20-day rat embryos, as well as 1-90 days old rats. It was shown that foetal period is the main one for the formation of iron-accumulating function of the liver. Anaemic period in 14-28-day rat puppies results from insufficient hemoglobin synthesis, rather than from iron deficiency in the organism. The latter is observed in 35-60-days old rats. Maturation of the spleen as the organ involved in reutilization of iron was noted in 42-60-day rats.