Erythropoiesis and iron metabolism biorhythms in children with chronic pyelonephritis.

Circadian dynamics of ferritin, serum iron, and MDA concentrations, ineffective, normal, and terminal kinetic populations of the erythron were studied in healthy girls aged 7-9 years and girls suffering from chronic pyelonephritis. The production of highly active macrocyte population, descending from terminal erythropoiesis, was increased during pyelonephritis remission, which determined reduction of serum iron concentration during the morning hours and leveling of its circadian rhythm because of high utilization of the trace element. Progressive reduction of erythrocyte count and hemoglobin content during the active phase of pyelonephritis correlated with the increase in the population of microcytes with low activity of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and short life span, paralleled by an appreciable increase in ferritin and MDA concentrations during the evening hours. Stimulation of alternative erythron kinetic types (terminal and ineffective) underlies these changes.