Hemosiderin

Common card · No. 479633

Hemosiderin or haemosiderin is an iron-storage complex that is composed of partially digested ferritin and lysosomes. The breakdown of heme gives rise to biliverdin and iron. The body then traps the released iron and stores it as hemosiderin in tissues. Hemosiderin is also generated from the abnormal metabolic pathway of ferritin. It is only found within cells (as opposed to circulating in blood) and appears to be a complex of ferritin, denatured ferritin and other material. The iron within deposits of hemosiderin is very poorly available to supply iron when needed. Hemosiderin can be identified histologically with Perls' Prussian blue stain; iron in hemosiderin turns blue to black when exposed to potassium ferrocyanide. In normal animals, hemosiderin deposits are small and commonly inapparent without special stains. Excessive accumulation of hemosiderin is usually detected within cells of the mononuclear phagocyte system (MPS) or occasionally within epithelial cells of the liver and kidney...

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