Table 2.
Food and iron (Fe) intake, growth, hemoglobin Fe change, and hemoglobin regeneration efficiency (HRE) in anemic rats fed graded quantities of the heme iron powder (HIP) for a 14-day repletion period 1,2.
| Control (“No Added Iron”) |
Heme Iron Powder (HIP) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diet Code | C | HIP-1 | HIP-2 | HIP-3 | HIP-4 |
| Diet Fe (mg/kg) | |||||
| Calculated | 1.6 | 12 | 24 | 36 | 48 |
| (Analyzed) | (1.4) | (11.6) | (25.3) | (34.2) | (47.1) |
| Food intake (g/day) | 11.7 ± 0.59 d | 13.2 ± 0.64 c | 13.9 ± 0.67 bc | 15.1 ± 0.85 ab | 16.3 ± 0.90 a |
| Fe intake (mg/day) | 0.016 ± 7−4 e | 0.153 ± 0.02 d | 0.352 ± 0.06 c | 0.516 ± 0.06 b | 0.768 ± 0.09 a |
| Body weight (g) | |||||
| Initial | 83.9 ± 3.8 a | 84.1 ± 3.6 a | 83.6 ± 3.5 a | 83.2 ± 3.8 a | 85.5 ± 3.7 a |
| (Gain) | (15.2 ± 0.9 c) | (53.8 ± 2.9 b) | (54.9 ± 3.0 ab) | (56.3 ± 3.4 ab) | (59.4 ± 3.5 a) |
| Hemoglobin (g/dL) | |||||
| Initial | 4.63 ± 0.5 a | 4.82 ± 0.7 a | 4.73 ± 0.5 a | 4.79 ± 0.6 a | 4.85 ± 0.9 a |
| (Gain) | (−0.42 ± 0.04 e) | (0.63 ± 0.1 d) | (1.16 ± 0.3 c) | (2.56 ± 0.3 b) | (3.28 ± 0.4 a) |
| Final | 4.21 ± 0.4 c | 5.45 ± 0.7 b | 5.89 ± 0.9 b | 7.35 ± 1.1 a | 8.13 ± 1.3 a |
| Hemoglobin Fe 3 | |||||
| Gain (mg) | 0.064 ± 8−3 e | 0.777 ± 0.06 d | 0.944 ± 0.07 c | 1.407 ± 0.09 b | 1.713 ± 0.09 a |
| HRE 4,5 | - | 0.508 ± 0.06 a | 0.268 ± 0.03 b | 0.273 ± 0.04 bc | 0.223 ± 0.02 c |
1 Values are mean values ± SEM (n = 9–12/group). 2 Different letters (a–e) are used to denote significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) from higher to lower mean values within a row. 3 Hb Fe (mg) = BW (body weight; kg) × 0.067 × Grams Hb per mL × 3.35 mg Fe. 4 HRE ratio = [Final Hb Fe (mg) − Initial Hb Fe (mg)]/Fe intake (mg total consumed). 5 A dash mark in the “No Added Iron” column for HRE indicates it is not applicable since there was no Hb increase in the control.