Effects of D-Fructose on the Uptake of Iron by the Intestinal Brush-Border Membrane Vesicles from Rats.

We have studied the iron uptake by the purified brush-border membrane vesicles (BBMVs) to determine the effect of fructose on the absorption of iron. BBMVs were prepared by the modified calcium precipitation method, The degree of purification was routinely assessed by the marker enzyme, alkaline phosphatase, and the functional integrity was tested by $D-[1-^3H]glucose$ uptake. The appearance of membrane vesicles was shown by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The uptakes of complexes of labeled iron $[^{59}Fe]$ with fructose and ascorbate were measured with a rapid filtration technique, The uptake rate and pattern of the two iron-complexes, Fe(III)-fructose and Fe(III)-ascorbate, were also observed. A typical overshooting uptake of D-glucose was observed with peak value of $2{\sim}3$ times higher concentration than that at equilibrium. This result was similar to other studies with BBMVs. TEM showed that the size of BBMVs was uniform and we can hardly find any contaminants, Fe(III)-fructose has the higher value of $V_{max}$ and the lower value of Km than those of Fe(III)-ascorbate, respectively. It may be concluded that D-fructose is more effective in promoting the iron absorption than ascorbate.