Functions of Iron
- Carrier of oxygen from lungs to the tissues as hemoglobin in red blood cell
- Transport medium for electrons in cells
- Functions of iron‐containing enzymes
- Synthesis of steroid hormones, and bile acids;
- Detoxification of foreign substances in the liver;
- Signal controlling in neurotransmitters, such as the dopamine and serotonin systems in the brain
- The function of iron is controlled by the need for hemoglobin synthesis.
Iron fate:
Most of the iron in the body is recycled
repeatedly as transferrin-bound iron is transported to marrow precursors that
become erythrocytes, which are then ingested by macrophages in the
reticuloendothelial system after a life span of about 120 days.
Iron is removed from hemoglobin by heme
oxygenase, and most is returned to the plasma, where it is bound to transferrin
again.
Only a small quantity of iron leaves this cycle
and enters the liver and other tissues, where it participates in the synthesis
of other hemoproteins such as cytochromes and myoglobin.