Spleen

The spleen performs two distinct biological functions: blood filtration and immune surveillance. It removes aged or damaged red blood cells, stores iron from haemoglobin breakdown, and hosts a large population of lymphocytes and macrophages that respond to pathogens circulating in the blood.

As a result, spleen tissue is among the richest dietary sources of heme iron - the form that is absorbed 2-3 times more efficiently than non-heme iron from plant sources. For individuals with low ferritin, spleen represents a precise, food-form intervention.

Tuftsin and splenopentin are small peptides found exclusively or primarily in spleen tissue. Tuftsin stimulates macrophage phagocytic activity; splenopentin has shown immunomodulatory effects in preclinical research. Both represent the frontier of whole-organ immune research.