The Involvement of Transferrin in the Uptake of Iron-59 by Hepatocytes of Carbon Tetrachloride-Damaged Rats

Abstract

We have reported that transferrin (Tf)-unbound Gallium-67 (⁶⁷Ga) was taken up into hepatocytes 1 d after carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄)-treatment in rats. It had been reported that the binding affinity of Iron-59 (⁵⁹Fe) to Tf was greater than that of ⁶⁷Ga. In the present study, we investigated whether or not Tf was involved in ⁵⁹Fe uptake by hepatocytes of CCl₄-damaged rats. The results showed that the uptake of ⁵⁹Fe by hepatocytes and the number of Tf-receptor decreased 1 d after CCl₄-treatment and increased 2 d after the treatment. Our data demonstrated that the uptake of ⁵⁹Fe by hepatocytes differed from that of ⁶⁷Ga and Tf was involved in that of ⁵⁹Fe. We expect that these finding could serve to analyze the inflammatory stages, disorder stage at 1 d and regeneration stage at 2 d after CCl₄-treatment.