Iron Loading and Disease Surveillance

Autor: Eugene D. Weinberg
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 1999
Předmět:
Zdroj: Emerging Infectious Diseases, Vol 5, Iss 3, Pp 346-352 (1999)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1080-6040
1080-6059
DOI: 10.3201/eid0503.990305
Popis: Iron is an oxidant as well as a nutrient for invading microbial and neoplastic cells. Excessive iron in specific tissues and cells (iron loading) promotes development of infection, neoplasia, cardiomyopathy, arthropathy, and various endocrine and possibly neurodegenerative disorders. To contain and detoxify the metal, hosts have evolved an iron withholding defense system, but the system can be compromised by numerous factors. An array of behavioral, medical, and immunologic methods are in place or in development to strengthen iron withholding. Routine screening for iron loading could provide valuable information in epidemiologic, diagnostic, prophylactic, and therapeutic studies of emerging infectious diseases.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals