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Topic: ferrous  (Read 5474 times)

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Offline AhmedEzatAlzawalaty

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ferrous
« on: May 07, 2008, 08:20:20 PM »
i wanna know why iron is absorbed from intestine into blood in the ferrous state not in ferric state?

Offline Rabn

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Re: ferrous
« Reply #1 on: May 09, 2008, 08:50:56 AM »
the "thank you captain obvious" answer is that it's because the cells in the intestines don't have an iron 3+ channel. There are a lot of iron containing proteins used in cellular respiration, not to mention hemoglobin.  All the iron you eat will be a mix of both oxidation states.  In its reduced state, the body can incorporate it into proteins.  If the iron was absorbed in the +3 state, the cells would have to reduce it in order to use it in synthesis which would waste precious electrons.

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