About 65% iron exists in hemoglobin, which mainly carries oxygen and carbon dioxide in human body. In addition, hemoglobin also has the function of maintaining blood acid-base balance.
About 35% of iron in human body is stored iron, and the main form of stored iron is ferritin, which is mainly distributed in reticuloendothelial system such as liver, spleen and bone marrow. The whole ferritin molecule is spherical, which has considerable ability to bind and store iron, enough to maintain the supply of iron in the body. Ferritin can regulate intestinal iron absorption and prevent atomic iron from producing toxic effects on tissues and cells. In addition, ferritin can also regulate granulocytes and macrophages and participate in nutritional immunity during infection. It has been found that the inhibitor associated with leukemia is also a ferritin. Clinically, serum ferritin is a very valuable index, with low iron deficiency and high iron excess, which is related to hepatocyte necrosis. Inflammation and tumor.
Other ferritins, such as iron-containing enzymes, although their iron content only accounts for about 0. 1% of the total iron content of human body, they play a vital role. They participate in important biochemical processes in the body, especially biological oxidation. Nutrients get the energy needed for life activities through biological oxidation. Peroxidase, catalase and monoamine oxidase in iron-containing enzymes play a detoxification role in decomposing metabolic wastes in tissues; Peroxidase also has bactericidal effect.
Iron is an indispensable substance in tissue metabolism. Iron deficiency can cause a variety of tissue changes and dysfunction, such as affecting the development of lymphoid tissue and resistance to infection. Therefore, people should eat more foods rich in iron, such as animal liver, animal blood and lean meat, to enhance their resistance.