Abstract: AIM: To evaluate the pharmacokinetic characteristics and bioavailability of ⁵⁸iron originating from hemin in rats. METHODS: A rapid, sensitive and specific method with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) has been developed for the determination of ⁵⁸iron in bio-samples. The study was performed in male rats at a single dose of 40 mg/kg and 2 mg/kg separately by oral administration and intravenous injection. Pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated by non-compartmental method using DAS 2.1.1 program and the dose of ⁵⁸iron was used in the calculation of these parameters. RESULTS: Results showed that ⁵⁸iron originating from hemin was poorly absorbed and the absolutely bioavailability was 0.93%. Plasma concentrations of ⁵⁸iron reached the peak at 1.5 h following oral administration to rats and the peak concentration was (220±89) μg/L. CONCLUSION: This research successfully investigated the pharmacokinetic characteristics of ⁵⁸iron originating from hemin using extrinsically label method and the absolutely bioavailability was evaluated.

Key words: Iron absorption, Hemin, ICP-MS, ⁵⁸Fe