Split Daily Oral Iron Dosing Enhances Correction of Iron-Deficiency Anemia in Rats

Iron deficiency is the leading cause of anemia worldwide. Single oral iron daily supplementation is usually unsatisfactory. We hypothesize dividing the oral iron dose may improve the anemic parameters. To test this hypothesis, forty male Wistar rats were evenly assigned to the following groups (n = 8): Control nonanemic or anemic groups. Anemia was induced by repeated phlebotomy from the orbital plexus under anesthesia for 4 weeks. The anemic rats either received no treatment (IDA group) or received a total oral iron supplementation (7.1 mg/kg/day) for 1 week. Iron was administered in different treatment regimens: single dose per day (IDA-Fe-sid group), twice per day (IDA-Fe-bid group), or thrice per day (IDA-Fe-tid group). The hemoglobin concentration, hematocrit values, total iron-binding capacity (TIBC), and serum levels of iron, ferritin, and hepcidin were measured to assess the anemia. The results showed that administration of iron in divided doses for 1 week exerted significant restorative effects on the measured anemia parameters, unlike the single daily regimen. In conclusion: oral iron supplementation in divided doses increased the oral iron bioavailability; therefore, it may be more efficient in improving the anemia parameters than a single dose in short-term treatment of IDA. In clinical practice, dividing the total large iron dose into multiple smaller doses may correct IDA more quickly, especially in patients who cannot tolerate a single large dose.