title: Erythroid progenitors in anemic Belgrade laboratory (b/b) rats.
abstract: The anemia of Belgrade b/b rats has been shown to be due to intracellular iron deficiency. The aim of this study of erythropoiesis at the progenitor cell level in these rats was to determine if a defect is present in the early phase of red cell production. Both erythroid colony-forming unit (CFU-E)- and erythroid burst-forming unit (BFU-E)-derived colonies were found to be few in untreated b/b rats and made up of a small number of poorly hemoglobinized erythroblasts of different size and irregular cell shape. Following treatment with iron, the anemia of the rats improved, and the number of CFU-E-derived colonies and the number of cells per colony increased, but the peculiar erythroblast morphology persisted. The high serum level of biologically active erythropoietin (Ep) in b/b rats rules out inadequate Ep production as a cause of their anemia. The results presented indicate, in addition to the earlier described defective transmembrane iron transport, a defect in erythroid progenitor cells. The effect of iron treatment in these rats detected in vitro on erythroid progenitors confirms the importance of iron for cellular proliferation.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Medical Research, Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pavlović-Kentera
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Basara
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Biljanović-Paunović
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vasiljevska
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Rolović
mesh_terms: D000740:Anemia / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000818:Animals; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000473:pathology; D003114:Colony-Forming Units Assay; D004920:Erythropoiesis / Q000187:drug effects; D004921:Erythropoietin / Q000097:blood / Q000494:pharmacology; D005808:Genes, Recessive; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D051381:Rats; D011922:Rats, Mutant Strains; D013154:Spleen / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins; D004921:Erythropoietin