Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-qsmjn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-17T22:17:17.187Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The effect of differences in dietary iron intake on 59Fe absorption and duodenal morphology in pregnant rats

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

Susan Southon ,
A. J. A. Wright  and
Susan J. Fairweather-Tait
Susan Southon
Affiliation:
AFRC Institute of Food Research, Colney Lane, Norwich NR4 7UA
A. J. A. Wright
Affiliation:
AFRC Institute of Food Research, Colney Lane, Norwich NR4 7UA
Susan J. Fairweather-Tait
Affiliation:
AFRC Institute of Food Research, Colney Lane, Norwich NR4 7UA
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The effect of iron intake on 59Fe absorption throughout pregnancy, and on maternal and fetal Fe status towards the end of pregnancy, was investigated in rats. The influence of pregnancy and dietary Fe on duodenal morphology was also studied. Female rats were fed on a diet containing 17 or 100 mg Fe/kg for 2 weeks before and throughout pregnancy. 59Fe absorption was measured on days 1 or 2, 8 or 9 and 17 or 18 of pregnancy, and maternal and fetal Fe status was determined on days 18 or 19. Pregnancy resulted in a fall in haemoglobin (Hb) concentration. Compared with non-pregnant counterparts, total liver Fe was reduced in the low-Fe group, but not in the high-Fe group, indicating that the fall in Hb in the high-Fe rats was not associated with an Fe-deficient state. 59Fe absorption in rats fed on both diets increased throughout pregnancy, demonstrating that Fe supplementation of the diet, to a level that prevented the development of Fe-deficiency, failed to suppress an increase in absorption. Fetal weight appeared to be an important determinant of the efficiency of Fe absorption in late pregnancy. Poor maternal Fe status was accompanied by a reduction in fetal Fe concentration but results also suggested that fetuses were partly protected from maternal Fe-deficiency. Pregnancy resulted in increased duodenal circumference and villus dimensions, whilst high dietary Fe reduced duodenal growth in both pregnant and non-pregnant animals. The relevance of this finding is discussed. It was concluded that, in rats, pregnancy per se causes an enhancement in Fe absorption and that the degree of enhancement is in part related to fetal mass.

Keywords

Duodenal morphologyIron absorptionPregnancyRat
Type
Minerals: Absorption and Metabolism
Information
British Journal of Nutrition , Volume 62 , Issue 3 , November 1989 , pp. 707 - 717
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 1989

References

REFERENCES

American Institute of Nutrition (1977). Report of the American Institute of Nutrition ad hoc committee on standards for nutritional studies. Journal of Nutrition 107, 1340–1348.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Apte, S.V. & Iyengar, L. (1970). Absorption of dietary iron in pregnancy. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 23, 73–77.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Batey, R.G. & Gallagher, N.D. (1977). Role of the placenta in intestinal absorption of iron in pregnant rats. Gastroenterology 12, 255–259.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bezwoda, W.R., Bothwell, T.H., Torrance, J.D., MacPhail, A.P., Charlton, R.W., Kay, G. & Leviv, J. (1979). The relationship between marrow iron stores, plasma ferritin concentrations and iron absorption. Scandinavian Journal of Haematology 22, 113–120.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bothwell, T.H., Charlton, R.W., Cook, J.D. & Finch, C.A. (1979). The regulation of iron absorption. In Iron Metabolism in Man, pp. 276–283. London: Blackwell Scientific Publications.Google Scholar
Bothwell, T.H., Pirzio-Biroli, G. & Finch, C.A. (1958). Iron absorption. 1. Factors influencing absorption. Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine 51, 24–36.Google Scholar
Craft, I.L. (1970). The influence of pregnancy and lactation on the morphology and absorptive capacity of the rat small intestine. Clinical Science 38, 287–295.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cripps, A.W. & Williams, V.J. (1975). The effect of pregnancy and lactation on food intake, gastrointestinal anatomy and the absorptive capacity of the small intestine in the albino rat. British Journal of Nutrition 33, 17–32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fairweather-Tait, S.J., Swindell, T.E. & Wright, A.J.A. (1985). Further studies in rats on the influence of previous iron intake on the estimation of bioavailability of Fe. British Journal of Nutrition 54, 79–86.Google Scholar
Fairweather-Tait, S.J. & Wright, A.J.A. (1984). The influence of previous iron intake on the estimation of bioavailability of Fe from a test meal given to rats. British Journal of Nutrition 51, 185–191.Google Scholar
Fell, B.F., Smith, R.A. & Campbell, R.M. (1963). Hypertrophic and hyperplastic changes in the alimentary canal of the lactating rat. Journal of Pathology and Bacteriology 85, 179–188.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fenton, V., Cavill, I. & Fisher, J. (1977). Iron stores in pregnancy. British Journal of Haematology 37, 145–149.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fowler, J.H. & Nash, D.J. (1968). Erythropoiesis in the spleen and bone marrow of the pregnant mouse. Developmental Biology 18, 331–353.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Glasser, S.R., Wright, C. & Heyssel, R.M. (1968). Transfer of iron across the placenta and fetal membranes in the rat. American Journal of Physiology 215, 205–210.Google Scholar
Hahn, P.F., Carothers, E.L., Darby, W.J., Martin, M., Sheppard, C.W., Cannon, R.O., Beam, A.S., Densen, P.M., Petersen, J.C. & McClellen, G.S. (1951). Iron metabolism in human pregnancy as studied with radioactive isotope 59Fe. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 61, 477–486.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heinrich, H.C. (1975). Deficiency and pathogenesis of iron deficiency. In Iron Metabolism and its Disorders, p. 119. [Kief, H., editor]. Amsterdam: Excerpta Medica.Google Scholar
Heinrich, H.C., Bartels, H., Heinisch, B., Houssmann, K., Kuse, R., Humke, W. & Mauss, H.J. (1968). Intestinal 59Fe absorption and pre-latent Fe deficiency in human pregnancy. Klinische Wochenschrift 46, 199–202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hershko, C., Cohen, H. & Zajicek, G. (1976). Iron mobilization in the pregnant rat. British Journal of Haematology 33, 505–516.Google Scholar
Howells, M.R., Jones, S.E., Napier, J.A.F., Saunders, K. & Cavill, I. (1986). Erythropoiesis in pregnancy. Haematology 64, 595–599.Google ScholarPubMed
Kaufmann, N. & Wyllie, J.C. (1970). Maternofetal iron transfer in the rat. British Journal of Haematology 19, 515–521.Google Scholar
Lanzkowky, P. (1976). Iron metabolism in the newborn infant. Clinics in Endocrinology and Metabolism 5, 149–174.Google Scholar
Matoth, Y. & Zaizov, R. (1977). Factors affecting materno-fetal transfer of iron in the rat. Biology of the Neonate 32, 43–46.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Murray, M.J., Murray, A.B., Murray, N.J. & Murray, M.B. (1978). The effect of iron status of Nigerian mothers on that of their infants at birth and 6 months, and on the concentration of Fe in breast milk. British Journal of Nutrition 39, 627–630.Google Scholar
Murray, M.J., Stein, N. & Bjerke, R. (1970). Do iron stores affect absorption and distribution of iron in pregnancy? Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine 75, 747–753.Google Scholar
Svanberg, B., Aridsson, B., Bjorn-Rasmussen, E., Hallberg, L., Rossander, L. & Swolin, B. (1975). Dietary iron absorption in pregnancy – A longitudinal study with repeated measurements of non-haem iron absorption from whole diet. Acta Obstetrica et Gynecologia Scandinavica 48, Suppl., 43–68.Google Scholar