BODY IRON STORES IN RELATION TO GROWTH AND PUBERTAL MATURATION IN HEALTHY BOYS

During male puberty, erythropoiesis is exceptionally active. Pubertal development and iron status were followed in 60 healthy boys at 3-mont h intervals for 24 months to evaluate changes in body iron stores with the serum transferrin receptor-ferritin ratio. The estimated amount o f stored iron declined by about 50% over a 2-year period. Remarkable c hanges in iron stores were found even after as short an interval as 3 months and pubertal development was closely linked with a decrease in stored iron. The annual increments of estimated red blood cell (RBC) i ron showed strong positive correlations with velocities in testicular volume and certainly in body height and weight, In contrast, the estim ated changes in individual iron stores were not associated with any of those parameters. The lacking associations between iron stores and gr owth parameters are probably indicative of increasing intestinal absor ption. Despite the relatively small quantitative role of iron stores i n supplying iron for growth, falling iron stores probably play a more important regulatory role by stimulating iron absorption.