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Morphological and functional alterations of the intestine of rats with iron-deficiency anemia.

Wayhs ML, Patrício FS, Amancio OM, Pedroso MZ, Neto UF, Morais MB

Disciplina de Gastroenterologia Pediátrica, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Brasil.

The present study was designed to assess the intestinal absorption of D-xylose and jejunal morphometry in rats with iron-deficiency anemia. Male Wistar rats were randomly divided into a control group (diet containing 50 mg Fe/kg, N = 12) and an anemic group (diet containing <5 mg Fe/kg, N = 12). The animals were housed in individual metabolic cages and deionized water and diet were provided ad libitum for 6 weeks. Hemoglobin and hematocrit were determined at 0, 2, 4, and 6 weeks. At the end of the study the rats were submitted to a D-xylose absorption test (50 mg/100 g body weight) and sacrificed and a jejunal specimen was obtained for morphometric study. At the end of the study the hemoglobin and hematocrit of the anemic rats (8.7 +/- 0.9 g/dl and 34.1 +/- 2.9%, respectively) were significantly (P < 0.05) lower than those of the controls (13.9 +/- 1.4 g/dl and 47.1 +/- 1.5%, respectively). There was no statistical difference in D-xylose absorption between the anemic (46.5 +/- 7.4%) and control (43.4 +/- 9.0%) groups. The anemic animals presented statistically greater villus height (445.3 +/- 36.8 microm), mucosal thickness (614.3 +/- 56.3 microm) and epithelial surface (5063.0 +/- 658.6 microm) than control (371.8 +/- 34.3, 526.7 +/- 62.3 and 4401.2 +/- 704.4 microm, respectively; P < 0.05). The increase in jejunum villus height, mucosal thickness and epithelial surface in rats with iron-deficiency anemia suggests a compensatory intestinal mechanism to increase intestinal iron absorption.

Published 1 November 2004 in Braz J Med Biol Res, 37(11): 1631-5.
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