Iron deficiency in the rat. Physiological and biochemical studies of muscle dysfunction.

C A Finch; L R Miller; A R Inamdar; R Person; K Seiler; B Mackler

doi:10.1172/JCI108489

Find articles by Finch, C. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

Find articles by Miller, L. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

Find articles by Inamdar, A. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

Find articles by Person, R. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

Find articles by Seiler, K. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

Find articles by Mackler, B. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

Published in Volume 58, Issue 2 on August 1, 1976
J Clin Invest. 1976;58(2):447–453. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI108489.
© 1976 The American Society for Clinical Investigation

Published August 1, 1976 - Version history

Work performance on a treadmill has been evaluated in normal and iron-deficient rats. Anemia was removed as a variable by adjusting the hemoglobin of all animals to the same concentration. At a hemoglobin compatible with normal work performance, iron-deficient animals showed a marked impairment of running ability as compared to control animals. Iron therapy corrected the disability within 4 days. Concentrations of the cytochrome pigments and myoglobin, and rates of oxidative phosphorylation with pyruvate-malate, succinate, and alpha-glycerophosphate as substrates were all reduced in mitochondrial preparations from skeletal muscle of iron-deficient rats, but only the rate of phosphorylation with alpha-glycerophosphate as substrate increased significantly and in parallel with the recovery in work performance of the iron-deficient rats treated with iron dextran.