THE INFLUENCE OF DIETARY IRON ON ZINC IN RAT

The purpose of this study was to clarify the influence of iron on zinc status. The animals were divided into four groups, consisting of five rats in each group. The control group was fed on basal diet with adeq uate levels of zinc and iron, whereas the experimental group was fed d iets containing different levels of iron ad libitum for 15 d. Low leve ls of iron (LFe) significantly increased the zinc absorption percentag e but there was a decrease in high (HFe) and very high iron (VHFe) lev el groups p < 0.001). The retention percentage changes were found to b e parallel to the changes in the absorption percentage curve. It was f ound that zinc (per total dry tissue) and Zn-65 (per total tissue) inc reased in the rats fed the LFe, whereas in general they decreased in t he rats fed the HFe and VHFe diets. Significant changes were found in the duodenum and liver. Zn-65 (per g wet tissue) significantly increas ed in the brain and liver in the LFe group, but there was a decrease i n the duodenum, ileum, kidney, liver, and brain in the HFe and VHFe gr oups. Changes in the level of zinc (per g dried tissue) were found to be parallel to the changes in Zn-65 in all the groups. The dietary pro portions of iron appear to influence zinc metabolism at the intestinal and cellular transport levels over a given period of time.