Brain iron: persistent deficiency following short-term iron deprivation in the young rat

This study was designed to determine the content of non-haem iron in the brain as iron deficiency develops in the rapidly growing rat. Rats were provided with either an iron-deficient diet or an identical control diet with added ferrous sulphate starting at 10 d of age and continuing after weaning at 21 d. At 28 d or 48 d of age the deficient animals received 5 mg of iron (iron dextran) i.m. and were placed on the control diet regimen. The deficient animals had a concentration of non-haem iron in the brain that was 27% below the control value at 28 d and 22% below at 48 d. After 14-45 d of iron treatment, the non-haem iron remained depressed, 19-29% below the control means (P less tha 0.05 to 0.001). Ferritin iron in brain also remained depressed, 33-42% below the control means (P less than 0.01). In contrast, haematocrit, liver non-haem iron, and liver ferritin iron, although they were more profoundly depressed in the iron-deficient animals, promptly returned to control values after treatment with iron. Thus, a brief period of severe iron deficiency in the young rat resulted in a deficit of brain iron that persisted in the adult animal despite an adequate intake of iron.