α- And β-Globins of the Anemic Belgrade Laboratory Rat. II. The Effect of Hemin and Iron-Dextran Treatment

Abstract

We have studied the changes in bone marrow and spleen globin chain levels after in vivo hemin and iron-dextran treatment of hereditarily anemic Belgrade laboratory(b/b) rats. The increase of globin chains was detected in the bone marrow and in the spleen when b/b animals were treated with either iron or hemin. The analysis of changes in α- and β-globin chain ratios revealed the distinctive role of these molecules in regulating globin chain status. Iron-dextran, as expected, ameliorated the imbalance of α- and β-globin chains in the b/b rat spleen. On the other hand, hemin, as we have hypothesized in the accompanying paper, leads to a surplus of β-globin chains in the bone marrow, similar to the one detected in the b/b rat spleen. Therefore, an iron-rich microenvironment has a stimulatory effect, while a hemin-rich microenvironment has an inhibitory effect on erythropoiesis.