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. 2009 Jun;89(6):1792-8.
doi: 10.3945/ajcn.2009.27439. Epub 2009 Apr 22.

Body iron excretion by healthy men and women

Janet R Hunt  1 , Carol Ann Zito, LuAnn K Johnson
Affiliations
Free article

Body iron excretion by healthy men and women

Janet R Hunt et al. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Jun.
Free article

Abstract

Background: Iron excretion measured by isotope dilution has been a primary basis for the factorial derivation of recommendations for iron intake, but the results have been available for men only.

Objective: The objective of this study was to confirm iron excretion measurements in healthy men and extend them to women.

Design: The turnover rate of 55Fe that had been administered > or =1 y earlier was determined from blood sampled semiannually for up to 3 y from 53 subjects in the community. Body iron was determined from hemoglobin, serum ferritin, and transferrin receptor. Complete menstrual collections were obtained from 13 women.

Results: The total median (range) iron excretion was 1.18 (0.11-2.07) mg/d for 29 men, 1.58 (0.65-4.88) mg/d for 19 menstruating women, and 0.99 (0.86-1.57) for 5 postmenopausal women. When hormonal contraceptive users were omitted, the median for 15 menstruating women increased to 1.66 mg/d. The distribution of iron excretion was normal for the men and postmenopausal women and was highly skewed for the menstruating women; menstrual iron accounted for 90% of the variation. Iron excretion was not strongly related to body weight. Body iron in menstruating women decreased somewhat (by 4.6%) in the men and tended to increase (by 1.5%) during the study.

Conclusions: The results extend direct iron excretion measurements in men to include similar measurements in women. The results emphasize the wide range of iron excretion in humans, which results in a 40-fold range of requirements for absorbed iron. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00755105.

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