Table 1.

Effect of dietary iron on parameters of systemic iron

Dietary iron, mg/kg diet	Plasma iron, μg/dL	Transferrin saturation, %	Hb, g/dL	Hct, %	Liver iron, μg/g wet weight*	Spleen iron, μg/g wet weight*
5	165 ± 53	32 ± 13	13 ± 1.5	43 ± 5	38 ± 5	120 ± 534
12	170 ± 17	45 ± 4	14.9 ± 1.5	48 ± 1	121 ± 29	465 ± 118
50	129 ± 26	35 ± 9	14.7 ± 0.4	46 ± 2	229 ± 36	727 ± 135
1000	167 ± 31	41 ± 13	14.7 ± 0.6	46 ± 2	552 ± 161	1216 ± 49

Data are mean and SD; n = 5. Modulation of dietary iron in C3H mice affects liver and spleen iron but does not affect plasma iron, transferrin saturation, hemoglobin, or hematocrit.

^*Statistically significant response to dietary iron, P < .001. Plasma iron, transferrin saturation, hemoglobin, and hematocrit were not significantly different.