Tissue effects of iron deficiency in the rat

Measurements of succinate dehydrogenase and mitochondrial glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase activities, iron, cytochrome c and myoglobin, were made on various hind-leg muscles, fast-twitch red and white muscle and heart and liver of male Wistar rats fed an iron-deficient diet on weaning. Rats fed the same diet and given 20 mg iron intraperitoneally as iron-dextran (Imferon) served as controls. For iron-repletion studies anemic rats (hemoglobin less than 7 g/dl) were given a single injection of 10 mg iron (Imferon) and the time course of change in the above parameters was followed up to 22 days after injection. The iron concentration of most iron-deficient muscles dropped to approx. 35% of control, the heart to 60% and liver to 13%. On repletion, the iron concentration of all tissues increase significantly by 4 days. While the levels of cytochrome c and myoglobin approximated the iron levels in muscle, they did not change significantly in the heart. Succinate dehydrogenase activity dropped profoundly in muscle, to 10-30% of control; on repletion, the activity increased significantly. Mitochondrial glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase activity showed only small changes in iron-deficient tissues.