The involvement of transferrin in the uptake of iron-59 by hepatocytes of carbon tetrachloride-damaged rats.

We have reported that transferrin (Tf)-unbound Gallium-67 ((67)Ga) was taken up into hepatocytes 1 d after carbon tetrachloride (CCl(4))-treatment in rats. It had been reported that the binding affinity of Iron-59 ((59)Fe) to Tf was greater than that of (67)Ga. In the present study, we investigated whether or not Tf was involved in (59)Fe uptake by hepatocytes of CCl(4)-damaged rats. The results showed that the uptake of (59)Fe by hepatocytes and the number of Tf-receptor decreased 1 d after CCl(4)-treatment and increased 2 d after the treatment. Our data demonstrated that the uptake of (59)Fe by hepatocytes differed from that of (67)Ga and Tf was involved in that of (59)Fe. We expect that these finding could serve to analyze the inflammatory stages, disorder stage at 1 d and regeneration stage at 2 d after CCl(4)-treatment.