Jb. Cannata et al., SERUM ALUMINUM TRANSPORT AND ALUMINUM UPTAKE IN CHRONIC-RENAL-FAILURE- ROLE OF IRON AND ALUMINUM METABOLISM, Nephron, 65(1), 1993, pp. 141-146
Several factors have been blamed for increasing gastrointestinal absor
ption of aluminum. The likely role of iron metabolism was suggested so
me years ago. As iron and aluminum share many chemical properties, it
is reasonable to think they also share biological pathways. The aim of
this study was: (a) to evaluate serum aluminum transport and its rela
tionship with iron-binding capacity, and (b) to investigate aluminum h
ydroxide absorption as a function of iron and aluminum. We investigate
d 127 patients with chronic renal failure undergoing hemodialysis in a
study divided into two phases: phase 1, a basal study to investigate
serum iron and aluminum status, and phase 2 in which an aluminum absor
ption test was performed. In phase 1, we found that the lower basal se
rum iron and iron transferrin saturation the greater serum aluminum (p
< 0.001). In phase 2, we found a negative relationship between serum
aluminum increments after the test and basal levels of serum aluminum
and iron (r = -0.70; p < 0.001). These results suggest that the amount
of either aluminum or iron carried by transferrin may influence the t
ransferrin capacity to bind the other element and also may modulate, t
ogether with other factors, the gastrointestinal absorption of iron an
d aluminum.