Premicellar taurocholate enhances ferrous iron uptake from all regions of rat small intestine

Inorganic iron is virtually insoluble at the pH of small intestinal contents. This severe solubility limitation has been partly overcome by intraluminal substances that bind and solubilize iron, thus increasing availability for absorption. While several dietary ligands capable of solubilizing Fe2+ in intestinal lumen have been described, an endogenous binding ligand has not been previously described. It has recently been shown that certain trihydroxy bile acids (taurocholate and glycocholate) show high-affinity premicellar and low-affinity micellar Fe(2+)-binding properties, resulting in the formation of soluble Fe(2+)-bile salt complexes. It was hypothesized that this binding would increase the intraluminal pool of soluble iron, increase delivery of soluble iron to mucosal carriers, and thus enhance intestinal Fe2+ uptake. As a first step toward testing this hypothesis, the effect of taurocholate on Fe2+ uptake from all regions of in vivo rat small intestine is reported. It is shown that taurocholate, at premicellar concentrations, produces a marked, stepwise increase in Fe2+ uptake from all regions of small bowel, with little further increase above the critical micellar concentration. Enhancement of intestinal Fe2+ uptake is a newly described effect, and potential physiological function, of premicellar bile salts.