Dietary iron deficiency in the rat. I. Abnormalities in energy metabolism of the hepatic tissue.
Severe iron deficiency was induced in rats by rearing nursing dams and their offspring on a diet comprising all the requisite nutrients and trace metals except iron. The iron deficient 5-week-old rats exhibited a severe anemia and a drastic decrease in iron content of the hepatic tissue and of the mitochondrial fraction. Cytochromes c + c1 and b were moderately but significantly reduced. A large increase in liver concentration was observed in iron-deficient animals; whereas there was no modification in total lipid, cholesterol, phospholipid and fatty acid composition of the mitochondrial membrane. Mitochondria from iron-deficient rats presented a partial uncoupling of the oxidative phosphorylation process. This functional derangement was completely reversed by the presence of either bovine serum albumin or L-carnitine plus ATP. This behaviour suggested that endogenous long-chain fatty acids could be primarily involved in the onset of mitochondrial dysfunction. The hepatic energy state of the liver appeared dramatically decreased under the pathological condition of severe iron-deficiency anemia. The possibility of a direct link between the partial loss of coupled functions observed in isolated mitochondria and the heavy energy deficit detected in the liver is discussed.
Masini
A
A
Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche, Università di Modena, Italy.
Salvioli
G
G
Cremonesi
P
P
Botti
B
B
Gallesi
D
D
Ceccarelli
D
D
D000818:Animals; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000378:metabolism; D004032:Diet; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D005260:Female; D007425:Intracellular Membranes / Q000378:metabolism; D000090463:Iron Deficiencies; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism*; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008564:Membrane Potentials; D008930:Mitochondria, Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D010743:Phospholipids / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
D010743:Phospholipids; D002784:Cholesterol