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Effect of iron supplementation on novel object recognition in growing rats
Author(s) -
Han Murui,
Chang JuOae,
Sukumaran Abitha,
Alsulimani Helal Hussain,
Ye Qi,
Kim Jonghan
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.27.1_supplement.lb285
Subject(s) - weanling , open field , elevated plus maze , iron deficiency , iron supplementation , endocrinology , barnes maze , medicine , chemistry , physiology , anxiety , hippocampus , anemia , spatial learning , psychiatry
Our recent study demonstrated that manganese exposure corrected neurobehavioral problems resulting from iron deficiency in young rats, suggesting a beneficial role of metal loading in brain function in growing children. To characterize the effect of dietary iron supplementation on behavioral performance, weanling rats were fed iron‐loading diet (10,000 mg iron/kg diet) or iron‐adequate control diet (50 mg/kg) for 4 weeks and a battery of behavioral tests (elevated plus maze, novel object recognition, rotarod) was conducted. Iron‐supplemented (IS) rats displayed higher non‐heme iron levels in serum (1.8‐fold) and liver (10.6‐fold) compared with controls, reflecting iron loading condition. Although iron loading did not affect anxiety determined by elevated plus maze, IS rats exhibited a better short‐term memory function (2‐hour) as assessed by an increased novel object recognition index (IS 22% change vs. control 12%; P=0.047; n=11/group). Iron loading did not alter overall activity (open field) or motor performance (rotarod test), indicating that increased memory functions are not due to altered mobile activity. Our investigation suggests that iron supplementation improves memory performance during developmental and rapidly growing periods of life. Supported by NIH ES017781.