Iron supplements could be improved by new research in the UK that has identified for the first time a molecule responsible for absorption of the mineral in the gut. The scientists from King’s College London who discovered the transporter of the haem form of iron – the type found in animal tissues - say they will be able to learn why iron is so well absorbed from meat and transfer this knowledge to synthetic forms of iron. Haem iron is absorbed around five times more efficiently than the inorganic iron from plant sources and is therefore better at preventing deficiency. The British researchers reported in Friday’s issue of Cell (vol 122, pp789-801) that the transporter, called HCP1 (haem carrier protein), is expressed in the first part of the intestine, the duodenum.
