Human iron metabolism is the set of chemical reactions that maintain human homeostasis of iron at the systemic and cellular level. Iron is both necessary to the body and potentially toxic. Controlling iron levels in the body is a critically important part of many aspects of human health and disease. Hematologists have been especially interested in systemic iron metabolism, because iron is essential for red blood cells, where most of the human body's iron is contained. Understanding iron metabolism is also important for understanding diseases of iron overload, such as hereditary hemochromatosis, and iron deficiency, such as iron-deficiency anemia.
Electron micrograph of E. coli. Most bacteria that cause human disease require iron to live and to multiply.
This schematic outlines iron metabolism in the brain illustrating that iron crosses the blood–brain barrier either by: The transcytosis pathway (illustrated in the upper right segment of the image), where the complex “Fe3+-transferrin-transferrin receptor 1 (TfR1)” undergoes endocytosis and exocytosis from the luminal pole to the cerebral extracellular matrix (ECM) and interstitial fluid. The facilitated transporter pathway, where endothelial cells internalize the complex “Fe
Iron is an important topic in prenatal care because women can sometimes become iron-deficient from the increased iron demands of pregnancy.
Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust, being mainly deposited by meteorites in its metallic state.
Iron
A polished and chemically etched piece of an iron meteorite, believed to be similar in composition to the Earth's metallic core, showing individual crystals of the iron-nickel alloy (Widmanstatten pattern)
Ochre path in Roussillon
Banded iron formation in McKinley Park, Minnesota
