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RAISE THE DRAWBRIDGE. "In cases of systemic infection, the organism responds by lowering its total serum iron, so as to make the serotransferrin present less saturated with iron...The iron apparently moves into the storage tissues from the circulation, and furthermore, it is withheld from circulation by the reticuloendothelial system." This results in low serum iron, high unsaturated iron binding, and more active serotransferrins. https://lnkd.in/e9yjFnc View in LinkedIn

IRON DEFENSES. "One of the first lines of defense against bacterial infection is the withholding of nutrients to prevent bacterial outgrowth in a process termed nutritional immunity. The most significant form of nutritional immunity is the sequestration of nutrient iron. The vast majority of vertebrate iron is intracellular, sequestered within the iron storage protein ferritin or complexed within the porphyrin ring of heme as a cofactor of hemoglobin or myoglobin." https://lnkd.in/epJAeXg View in LinkedIn

IRON, ZINC, MANGANESE -- are they keys to fighting infections and inflammatory diseases, and if so, how? http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1367593109001847 View in LinkedIn

HOARDING IRON. "Vertebrates sequester iron from invading pathogens, and conversely, pathogens express a variety of factors to steal iron from the host. Recent work has demonstrated that in addition to iron, vertebrates sequester zinc and manganese both intracellularly and extracellularly to protect against infection." https://lnkd.in/eUkYnw9 View in LinkedIn

IRON CONTROL IS DECISIVE. "The control over iron homeostasis is decisive in host–pathogen interaction...These multiple functional aspects of iron are based on its ability to transfer electrons needed during metabolic processes and to catalyze the formation of highly reactive radicals." https://lnkd.in/eBzy3XB View in LinkedIn

OBLIGATE IRON. "Iron is a vital nutrient for virtually all forms of life. The requirement for iron is based on its role in cellular processes ranging from energy generation and DNA replication to oxygen transport and protection against oxidative stress. Bacterial pathogens are not exempt from this iron requirement, as these organisms must acquire iron within their vertebrate hosts in order to replicate and cause disease." https://lnkd.in/epJAeXg View in LinkedIn

BLOOD IRON during a mock infection in humans drops very significantly in the first 24 hours, while hepticidin, an acute-phase protein, and inflammatory cytokines, react by sharply increasing in the same timeframe. Lovely time course charts. https://lnkd.in/eyMxbBN View in LinkedIn

CYTOKINE SPIKE. "Anemia of chronic disease is immune driven; cytokines and cells of the reticuloendothelial system induce changes in iron homeostasis, the proliferation of erythroid progenitor cells, the production of erythropoietin, and the life span of red cells, all of which contribute to the pathogenesis of anemia." https://lnkd.in/eR97PqF View in LinkedIn

IRON ACQUISITION AND VIRULENCE. "Many organisms can produce small molecular-weight iron-binding compounds called siderophores that can successfully utilize the iron sequestered by the transferrins. Such organisms are very virulent." https://lnkd.in/e9yjFnc View in LinkedIn

LOW BLOOD IRON. "The induction of hypoferremia by inflammation is commonly seen in many infectious diseases." Infection leads to a defensive inflammatory response by rapidly releasing cytokines. Equally, many inflammatory diseases can cause low blood iron ("anemia of chronic and inflammatory diseases"). https://lnkd.in/eyMxbBN View in LinkedIn