TY - JOUR
T1 - The central role of iron in human nutrition
T2 - From folk to contemporary medicine
AU - Briguglio, Matteo
AU - Hrelia, Silvana
AU - Malaguti, Marco
AU - Lombardi, Giovanni
AU - Riso, Patrizia
AU - Porrini, Marisa
AU - Perazzo, Paolo
AU - Banfi, Giuseppe
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/6
Y1 - 2020/6
N2 - Iron is a fundamental element in human history, from the dawn of civilization to contemporary days. The ancients used the metal to shape tools, to forge weapons, and even as a dietary supplement. This last indication has been handed down until today, when martial therapy is considered fundamental to correct deficiency states of anemia. The improvement of the martial status is mainly targeted with dietary supplements that often couple diverse co-factors, but other methods are available, such as parenteral preparations, dietary interventions, or real-world approaches. The oral absorption of this metal occurs in the duodenum and is highly dependent upon its oxidation state, with many absorption influencers possibly interfering with the intestinal uptake. Bone marrow and spleen represent the initial and ultimate step of iron metabolism, respectively, and the most part of body iron circulates bound to specific proteins and mainly serves to synthesize hemoglobin for new red blood cells. Whatever the martial status is, today’s knowledge about iron biochemistry allows us to embrace exceedingly personalized interventions, which however owe their success to the mythical and historical events that always accompanied this metal.
AB - Iron is a fundamental element in human history, from the dawn of civilization to contemporary days. The ancients used the metal to shape tools, to forge weapons, and even as a dietary supplement. This last indication has been handed down until today, when martial therapy is considered fundamental to correct deficiency states of anemia. The improvement of the martial status is mainly targeted with dietary supplements that often couple diverse co-factors, but other methods are available, such as parenteral preparations, dietary interventions, or real-world approaches. The oral absorption of this metal occurs in the duodenum and is highly dependent upon its oxidation state, with many absorption influencers possibly interfering with the intestinal uptake. Bone marrow and spleen represent the initial and ultimate step of iron metabolism, respectively, and the most part of body iron circulates bound to specific proteins and mainly serves to synthesize hemoglobin for new red blood cells. Whatever the martial status is, today’s knowledge about iron biochemistry allows us to embrace exceedingly personalized interventions, which however owe their success to the mythical and historical events that always accompanied this metal.
KW - Anemia
KW - Dietary supplements
KW - Elective surgical procedures
KW - Functional food
KW - Integrative medicine
KW - Iron
KW - Nutraceutical
KW - Preoperative care
KW - Transfusion-alternative strategy
KW - Vitamin
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U2 - 10.3390/nu12061761
DO - 10.3390/nu12061761
M3 - Review article
C2 - 32545511
AN - SCOPUS:85086479391
VL - 12
SP - 1
EP - 17
JO - Nutrients
JF - Nutrients
SN - 2072-6643
IS - 6
M1 - 1761
ER -