COVID-19 is an emerging

6 min readNov 29, 2020

Iron is a mineral that is naturally present in many foods, added to some food products, and available as a dietary supplement. Iron is an essential component of hemoglobin, an erythrocyte (red blood cell) protein that transfers oxygen from the lungs to the tissues [1]. As a component of myoglobin, another protein that provides oxygen, iron supports muscle metabolism and healthy connective tissue [2]. Iron is also necessary for physical growth, neurological development, cellular functioning, and synthesis of some hormones [2,3].

Dietary iron has two main forms: heme and nonheme [1]. Plants and iron-fortified foods contain nonheme iron only, whereas meat, seafood, and poultry contain both heme and nonheme iron [2]. Heme iron, which is formed when iron combines with protoporphyrin IX, contributes about 10% to 15% of total iron intakes in western populations [3–5].

Most of the 3 to 4 grams of elemental iron in adults is in hemoglobin [2]. Much of the remaining iron is stored in the form of ferritin or hemosiderin (a degradation product of ferritin) in the liver, spleen, and bone marrow or is located in myoglobin in muscle tissue [1,5]. Transferrin is the main protein in blood that binds to iron and transports it throughout the body. Humans typically lose only small amounts of iron in urine, feces, the gastrointestinal tract, and skin. Losses are greater in menstruating women because of blood loss. Hepcidin, a circulating peptide hormone, is the key regulator of both iron absorption and the distribution of iron throughout the body, including in plasma [1,2,6].

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The assessment of iron status depends almost entirely on hematological indicators [7]. However, these indicators are not sensitive or specific enough to adequately describe the full spectrum of iron status, and this can complicate the diagnosis of iron deficiency. A complementary approach is to consider how iron intakes from the diet and dietary supplements compare with recommended intakes.

Iron deficiency progresses from depletion of iron stores (mild iron deficiency), to iron-deficiency erythropoiesis (erythrocyte production), and finally to iron deficiency anemia (IDA) [8,9]. With iron-deficiency erythropoiesis (also known as marginal iron deficiency), iron stores are depleted and transferrin saturation declines, but hemoglobin levels are usually within the normal range. IDA is characterized by low hemoglobin concentrations, and decreases in hematocrit (the proportion of red blood cells in blood by volume) and mean corpuscular volume (a measure of erythrocyte size) [2,10].

Serum ferritin concentration, a measure of the body’s iron stores, is currently the most efficient and cost-effective test for diagnosing iron deficiency [11–13]. Because serum ferritin decreases during the first stage of iron depletion, it can identify low iron status before the onset of IDA [7,9,14]. A serum ferritin concentration lower than 30 mcg/L suggests iron deficiency, and a value lower than 10 mcg/L suggests IDA [15]. However, serum ferritin is subject to influence by inflammation (due, for example, to infectious disease), which elevates serum ferritin concentrations [16].

Table 1 lists the current iron RDAs for nonvegetarians. The RDAs for vegetarians are 1.8 times higher than for people who eat meat. This is because heme iron from meat is more bioavailable than nonheme iron from plant-based foods, and meat, poultry, and seafood increase the absorption of nonheme iron [5].

For infants from birth to 6 months, the FNB established an AI for iron that is equivalent to the mean intake of iron in healthy, breastfed infants.

Table 1: Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) for Iron [5]AgeMaleFemalePregnancyLactationBirth to 6 months0.27 mg*0.27 mg*7–12 months11 mg11 mg1–3 years7 mg7 mg4–8 years10 mg10 mg9–13 years8 mg8 mg14–18 years11 mg15 mg27 mg10 mg19–50 years8 mg18 mg27 mg9 mg51+ years8 mg8 mg

COVID-19 is an emerging

Written by Mystical Dimples