ABSTRACT
Iron is the most abundant transition metal occurring in nature. This element also constitutes the most important of the required trace elements in human nutrition. The crucial role of iron in human physiology has been recognized since antiquity when the ancient Greeks prescribed iron salt supplements in the diet to improve muscular weakness in injured warriors (1). Iron is essential for DNA and RNA synthesis, electron transport, and oxygen metabolism in most microorganisms, plants, and animals. Absorption, storage, mobilization, and excretion of iron are delicately regulated by a number of interrelated control processes that have not been definitively identified (1).
