Brief Communication Aluminium Uptake by Intestinal Cells: Effect of Iron Status and

Abstract. The investigation of different aluminium-binding agents and metabolic conditions that might act as critical factors in modulating aluminium absorption could yield valuable information in the understanding of aluminium gastrointestinal absorption. We evaluated the effect of iron depletion in aluminium uptake and the role of transferrin and citrate in aluminium incorpora-tion by the intestinal epithelial cell line RIE1. Both complex, aluminium-citrate and aluminium-transferrin were prepared in a molar ratio of 2:1; both facilitated the aluminium uptake although a greater aluminium incorporation was found when aluminium was adminis-tered as aluminium—transferrin. This difference became even greater in the iron-depleted cells (normal cells vs iron-depleted cells): 7.7±1.4 versus 30±5.6 ng AVfig DNA (P<0.05). From these and previous data it is possible to speculate that iron status could modulate the intestinal uptake of aluminium and that both transferrin and citrate would act as effective carriers in the incor-poration of aluminium into mucosal cells