ENERGY-METABOLISM DERANGEMENT OF THE HEPATIC TISSUE FOLLOWING SEVERE IRON RESTRICTION TO RATS AND ITS RECOVERY BY IRON THERAPY

The effect of severe iron deficiency on hepatic energy metabolism of t he rat and of an oral therapy with an iron-protein complex (ITF 1096) on the same parameters has been studied. Severe iron deficiency was in duced in rats by rearing nursing dams and their offspring on a diet la cking in iron. The iron-deficient 5-week-old rats exhibited severe ane mia and a drastic decrease in iron content of the hepatic tissue and o f the mitochondrial fraction. A large increase in liver lipid concentr ation was observed in iron-deficient animals, whereas there was no mod ification in the lipid composition of mitochondrial membranes. Mitocho ndria from anemic rats presented a partial and reversible uncoupling o f the oxidative phosphorylation process. The energy state of the liver , as assessed by P-31-NMR spectroscopy, appeared dramatically decrease d under this pathological condition. Iron therapy, for 1 week, almost completely corrected severe anemia and the level of iron either in the hepatic tissue or in the mitochondrial fraction. Moreover, iron suppl ements significantly decreased the abnormal level of liver total lipid s and serum triglycerides. In parallel, iron repletion fully reverted both the partial loss of coupled function in isolated mitochondria and the energy state perturbation of the liver.