DIETARY IRON-DEFICIENCY IN THE RAT .1. 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 + c(1) and b were moderately but significantly reduced. A large increase in liver l ipid concentration was observed in iron-deficient animals; whereas the re was no modification in total lipid, cholesterol, phospholipid and f atty acid composition of the mitochondrial membrane. Mitochondria from iron-deficient rats presented a partial uncoupling of the oxidative p hosphorylation process. This functional derangement was completely rev ersed by the presence of either bovine serum albumin or L-carnitine pl us ATP. This behaviour suggested that endogenous long-chain fatty acid s could be primarily involved in the onset of mitochondrial dysfunctio n. The hepatic energy state of the liver appeared dramatically decreas ed under the pathological condition of severe iron-deficiency anemia. The possibility of a direct link between the partial loss of coupled f unctions observed in isolated mitochondria and the heavy energy defici t detected in the liver is discussed.