Iron protein succinylate: preclinical safety assessment

In this brief review the preclinical safety studies on iron protein succinylate (synonym: ITF 282) are presented. Iron protein succinylate is an iron-protein complex, in which iron is present in ferric form. It has been developed for oral iron-supplementation therapy and is characterized by a very favorable tolerability profile. The acute toxicity of iron protein succinylate to rodents is very low, indicating a substantial margin of safety with respect to accidental child poisonings. In chronic toxicity studies of 52-week duration in rats and dogs, there were no findings of toxicological significance. In particular, there were no alterations in hematological parameters and no histopathological findings consistent with iron overload damage. Some deposition of iron was noted in the spleen and liver of the treated dogs. A series of reproductive toxicology studies were performed to assess the effects on fertility (in the rat), peri- and postnatal reproductive function (in the rat) and fetal toxicity (in the rat and the rabbit). Treatment with iron protein succinylate did not result in any adverse effect on reproductive performance nor did it affect the incidences of malformations, visceral and skeletal anomalies or skeletal variants. There was no evidence of mutagenic activity in a comprehensive series of in vitro and in vivo mutagenicity studies. No secondary pharmacological effects of the product were noted in a wide range of single and repeated administration studies. Overall, the available toxicology and safety profile of this product offers ample assurances of the safety of iron protein succinylate in clinical use.