Absorption of Iron Compounds from the Upper Part of the Small Intestine

Abstract

The intubation technique of Miller and Abbott1, 2, 3 as modified by Groen4 has been used in the present investigation to study the absorption of ferrous, ferric, and complex iron compounds from a 50 cm. loop of the small intestine in man.Each iron salt after being dissolved in 100 ml. of distilled water was introduced into the isolated segment of gut of a fasting subject in such amounts that between 80 and 100 mg. of iron were present.After 30 minutes the solution was aspirated and washing of both the blocked segment of intestine and the stomach was commenced and was continued for 30 minutes.Aliquot amounts of both intestinal contents and washings were analyzed for total iron by the method of Taylor and Brock.6 When the intestinal contents contained organic debris of a nature that made accurate sampling impossible, the intestinal contents were partially digested by standing for 48 hours after mixing with an equal volume of concentrated sulphuric acid.With ferric salts (ferric ammonium sulphate, ferric chl...