Studies on the iron metabolism of erythroblasts in various blood diseases

The serum iron contents and the number of sideroblasts from various patients and the radioactivity of erythroblasts from the same patients incubated with Fe55 have been observed. The results have proved that in the case with accelerated erythropoietic function like polycythemia vera and in the iron deficient state like idiopathic hypochromic anemia, the serum iron level and the number of sideroblast are lower than those in normal persons and higher in radioactivity in erythroblasts, whereas in the case with low erythropoietic function like hypoplastic anemia the former values are higher and lower in radioactivity of erythroblasts. There is an inverse correlation between the average number of stainable iron granules and the average rate of radioactive iron appearance in erythroblasts, and the observation on these factors will give an important clue for judging the utilization process of iron in each disease. The limitation of the iron uptake correlating with the hemoglobin synthesis have been discussed.