IRON METABOLISM

Abstract

THE CLINICIAN has long been aware of the fact that iron deficiency anemia is most prevalent during infancy. Continuing studies of iron metabolism have disclosed many factors which help explain the basic mechanisms of the anemia and the peculiar vulnerability of the infant. The following comments pertain to a review of the subject appearing in this issue of Pediatrics.

The concept that the baby is born with "iron stores," in terms of reserve depots, is no longer tenable. Almost the entire quota of iron with which the baby begins life is that contained in his circulating hemoglobin. This initial endowment is influenced by three major factors: 1) the length of gestation; 2) the amount of blood transferred from placenta to infant in the first few minutes after delivery, and 3) prenatal factors affecting intrauterine hematopoiesis, an aspect which may be highly significant since even in normal full-term infants the concentration of hemoglobin in cord blood has been found to vary within a range of 5 gm./100 ml. of blood.