Abstract
A system based on the detection of K-shell x-ray fluorescence (XRF) has been used toinvestigate whether a correlation exists between the concentration of iron inthe skin and the concentration of iron in the liver, as the degree of ironloading increases. The motivation behind this work is to develop anon-invasive method of determining the extent of the body's iron stores viameasurements on the skin, in order to monitor the efficacy of chelationtherapy administered to patients with β-thalassaemia. Sprague-Dawleyrats were iron loaded via injections of iron dextran and subsequently treatedwith the iron chelator CP94. The non-haem iron concentrations of the liver,heart and spleen were determined using bathophenanthroline sulphonate as thechromogen reagent. Samples of abdominal skin were taken and the ironconcentrations determined using XRF. A strong correlation between the skiniron concentration and the liver iron concentration has been demonstrated(R2 = 0.86). Similar correlations exist for the heart and the spleen. Theseresults show that this method holds great potential as a tool in the diagnosisand treatment of hereditary haemochromatosis and β-thalassaemia.
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