Plasma iron transport during egg laying and after oestrogen administration in the domestic fowl (Gallus domesticus).

The concentrations of 59Fe and of radioiodinated transferrin and albumin were measured in the blood, liver, spleen, bone marrow and ova at different times after the injection of transferrin-bound 59Fe and the labelled proteins into non-laying, laying and oestrogen treated chickens. In the egg-laying and oestrogen-treated birds the 59Fe of the plasma was rapidly transferred from transferrin to another component with the properties of th phosphoprotein, phosvitin. Radioactive iron, and labelled transferrin and albumin to a lesser extent, entered the ova only while they were in the ovary. Relatively more labelled transferrin than albumin was found in all the tissues studied except in the ova, in which the two labelled proteins were present in the same relative concentration as in the plasma. It is concluded that, during egg laying and after oestrogen treatment, plasma iron bound to transferrin is taken up by the liver, incorporated into phosvitin and is then secreted into the plasma leading to elevation of the plasma iron concentration and transfer of iron to the ova.