ALPHA-GLOBIN AND BETA-GLOBIN OF THE ANEMIC BELGRADE LABORATORY RAT - II - THE EFFECT OF HEMIN AND IRON-DEXTRAN TREATMENT

We have studied the changes in bone marrow and spleen globin chain lev els after in vivo hemin and iron-dextran treatment of hereditarily ane mic Belgrade laboratory(b/b) rats. The increase of globin chains was d etected in the bone marrow and in the spleen when b/b animals were tre ated with either iron or hemin. The analysis of changes in alpha- and beta-globin chain ratios revealed the distinctive role of these molecu les in regulating globin chain status. Iron-dextran, as expected, amel iorated the imbalance of alpha- and beta-globin chains in the b/b rat spleen. On the other hand, hemin, as we have hypothesized in the accom panying paper, leads to a surplus of beta-globin chains in the bone ma rrow, similar to the one detected in the b/b rat spleen. Therefore, an iron-rich microenvironment has a stimulatory effect, while a hemin-ri ch microenvironment has an inhibitory effect on erythropoiesis.