title: Effect of dietary iron on the course of Plasmodium berghei malaria in young rats.
abstract: Clinical and experimental evidence suggests that iron-deficient hosts are less susceptible to severe malaria and that iron supplementation aggravates infection. In the present study, 60 weanling Wistar rats were fed standard diets with different iron concentrations: 21 mg/kg (group 1), 45 mg/kg (group 2) and 113 mg/kg (group 3). Ferrous sulfate (FeSO4 x 7H2O) was added to the normal-iron and iron-supplemented diets (groups 2 and 3, respectively). Data are reported as mean +/- SEM. After 16 days of regimen, eight rats from each group were killed to measure serum iron concentration (SI) and transferrin saturation capacity (TSC). At this moment, rats from group 1 were underweight and their dietary intake was significantly lower than that of animals from the other groups. Severe iron deficiency (SI = 49.2 +/- 4.5 micrograms/100 ml and TSC = 8.3 +/- 0.7%) was observed in rats from group 1, while the animals from the other groups were iron-sufficient (group 2: SI = 186.5 +/- 28.5 micrograms/100 ml and TSC = 27.3 +/- 3.4%; group 3: SI = 137.3 +/- 18.2 micrograms/100 ml and TSC = 21.3 +/- 2.3%). Nine animals from each group were then infected with the malaria parasite Plasmodium berghei, whereas three animals from each group were used as noninfected controls. Parasitemias (% of infected red blood cells) peaked 7 days post-infection in animals from groups 2 and 3 (mean values of 2.4% and 1.7%, respectively), but in animals from group 1 parasitemias increased until the 9th day post-infection (mean at peak, 2.3%) and parasite clearance was significantly slower than in the other groups.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas, Universidade de São Paulo, Brasil.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Cardoso
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Colli
authors.forename: P B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.forename: M U
authors.initials: MU
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.forename: M V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Penteado
authors.forename: H F
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Andrade Júnior
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight; D007501:Iron / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000097:blood; D000090463:Iron Deficiencies; D008288:Malaria / Q000097:blood / Q000469:parasitology*; D008297:Male; D010962:Plasmodium berghei / Q000254:growth & development*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D007501:Iron