[Use of the ferrocerone test for measuring iron reserves in different types of daily activities]

A test using an iron containing agent, i.e. ferrocerone, was developed to measure iron reserves in the body. After breakfast the subject took a ferrocerone tablet (0.3 g) containing 0.04 g iron. Iron content was measured in 24 hour urine samples with the aid of bathophenanthroline++. Iron excretion was assessed in 24 ambulatory test subjects, aged 18-21 years. Two basic types differing in the excretion rate in different times of the day. After testing the renal excretion rate of the agent in healthy people was 20.8 +/- 0.7 mg. Iron reserves during head-down tilt tests of various duration were estimated in 20 test subjects, 6 of whom participated in a 50-day study (-6 degrees) and 14 in a 120-day study (-4.5 degrees). Iron utilization was highest on readaptation day 13 (in the 50-day study) and on bed rest days 65-75 (in the 120-day study). Increase in iron requirements coincided in time with the period of hemoglobin recovery.