Iron absorption in the everted chicken intestine.

Everted chicken intestines from 2-4 week old males were prepared according to the Wilson and Wiseman technique. The sacs were kept in a glucose ionic balanced solution, containing different cold iron concentrations (0.02; 0.01; 0.5; 1 mM Fe) and 59Fe was added as a tracer. The mucosal iron uptake and the iron transfer in the serosal fluid were determined at different intervals (1; 5; 10; 20 min) and in three main segments. The viability of the intestinal sacs was controlled by manometric O2 evaluation. The iron mucosal uptake was proportional to the iron concentration but the serosal iron transfer presented a saturation level, with similar behavior for both the duodenum and the jejunum. Iron transfer decreased with time and this could suggest a serosal to mucosal reflux. No effect was noted from the presence of metabolic inhibitors (0.01 mM sodium azide or 0.5-2 mM 2-4-dinitrophenol).