Effects of lron Deficiency Anemia on Growth Rate of Rats

We conducted two experiments to investigate the effects of iron deficiency anemia on growth rate. In Experiment I, the iron-deficient group received a diet with 3.6 ppm iron citrate and the control group received a diet with 303 ppm iron citrate. Pair-fed rats received a control diet in amounts equivalent to that consumed by the iron-deficient group. Experiment 2 included an additional iron-deficient control (IDC) group that received the iron-deficient diet for six weeks followed by three weeks of the control diet. Growth associated with a decrease in food intake was significantly retarded in the iron-deficient and pair-fed rats than control rats. However, the ratio of daily diet intake to growth in the iron-deficient group was more than that of the control groups. The plasma leptin concentration in the iron-deficient group was significantly lower than the pair fed group in Experiment 1. We could not fmd that iron-deficient rats have a poor appetite and increase the plasma leptin level. In experiment 2, the iron-deficient status of the IDC group resulted in poor growth, hyperlipidemia and anemia, but their growth increased by the end of the experiment. The plasma leptin concentration (ng/ml) in the control, iron-deficient and IDC groups was 1.37±0.27, 0.90±0.14, and 2.12±0.53, respectively. The leptin concentration in the control and IDC groups, but not in the iron-deficient group, was siginificantly correlated with fat weight. Our results suggest that decreased growth rate may be due to malnutrition of the iron-deficient diet, and the effect of increased energy consumption. The decreased leptin concentration and the lack of a significant correlation between leptin concentration and fat weight in the iron-deficient rats may be necessary to maintain growth.