Kanji Nakatsu
Abstract
Iron deficiency during early growth and
development adversely affects multiple facets of cognition and behavior
in adult rats.
The purpose of this study was to assess the nature
of the learning and locomotor behavioral deficits observed in male and
female rats in the absence of depressed brain iron
levels at the time of testing. Adult female Wistar rats were fed either
an iron-enriched diet (>225 mg/kg Fe) or an
iron-restricted diet (3 mg/kg Fe) for 2 wk prior to and throughout
gestation,
and a nonpurified diet (270 mg/kg Fe) thereafter.
Open-field (OF) and Morris water maze (MWM) testing began when the
offspring
reached early adulthood (12 wk). At birth,
perinatal iron-deficient (PID) offspring had reduced (P <
0.001) hematocrits (−33%), liver iron stores (−83%), and brain iron
concentrations (−38%) compared with controls. Although
there were no differences in iron status in adults,
the PID males and females exhibited reduced OF exploratory behavior,
albeit
only PID males had an aversion to the center of the
apparatus (2.5 vs. 6.9% in controls, P < 0.001).
Additionally, PID males required greater path lengths to reach the
hidden platform in the MWM, had reduced spatial
bias for the target quadrant, and had a tendency
for greater thigmotactic behavior in the probe trials (16.5 vs. 13.0% in
controls; P = 0.06). PID females had slower swim speeds in all testing phases (−6.2%; P
< 0.001). These results suggest that PID has detrimental programming
effects in both male and female rats, although the behaviors
suggest different mechanisms may be involved in
each sex.
Witma Aptriyana
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