Iron Case Study

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Iron is a trace element, which is a group of minerals present in small quantities in the body. Other trace elements include copper, zinc, selenium, manganese and iodine. These minerals cannot be synthesized by the body and must therefore be supplied in the diet. Iron is the most common trace element in the human body; adult males have approximately 3.5 g iron in total, or 50 mg per kg body weight while females have about 2g total iron or 35 mg per kg bodyweight. Iron can exist in oxidation states from -2 to +6, but mainly exists in the ferrous (+2) and ferric (+3) states in biological systems. As iron has the ability to accept and donate electrons readily, it can interconvert between these two forms with ease. Thus, iron can participate in …show more content…

However, free iron can cause significant damage to body tissues, by catalysing the breakdown of hydrogen peroxide to free radical ions such as hydroxyl and hydroperoxyl, which react with cell membranes, proteins and DNA (Andrews, 1999). In order to prevent this from occurring, iron within the body is bound to proteins. These can be divided into three broad categories, haem proteins, iron sulphur proteins and iron containing proteins which do not contain haem or sulphur. Haem proteins are a group of proteins which contain haem as a prosthetic group. Haem is an organic compound consisting of one ferrous (Fe2+) ion surrounded by a porphyrin ring, which consists of four pyrrole rings connected by methene bridges. The iron atom is bonded to the nitrogen atoms of the four pyrrole rings, and can also form two additional bonds, one on each side of the haem plane, called the fifth and sixth coordination sites. The fifth coordination site is bound by histidine while the sixth is unoccupied. Haem proteins carry out a range of biological functions, including oxygen transport and storage and electron transfer. Haemoglobin and myoglobin, the major oxygen

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