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Hepatotoxicity Associated with Dietary Iron Overload in Mice

Department of Veterinary Physiological Sciences, Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, S7N 0W0

Barry R. Blakley

Department of Veterinary Physiological Sciences, Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, S7N 0W0

Lusimbo S. Wanjala

Department of Veterinary Pathology, Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, S7N 0W0

1 Weanling male CD-1 mice were fed 120 (control), 5000 and 8000 mg of iron kg^-1 for seven weeks. The haematocrit (P=0.265), water consumption ( P=0.170) and percentage body weight ratios of kidney, spleen and heart were not affected by iron supplementation.

2 Iron supplementation reduced weight gain (P=0.023), increased weight of liver (P=0.0001), the iron deposition index and concentration of iron in the liver (P<0.01). A strong correlation between liver iron concentration and level of iron in the diet (r=0.989) was observed. Histologically, the deposition of iron was restricted to the hepatocytes, Kupffer cells and splenic macrophages.

3 Consumption of 5000 and 8000 mg of iron kg^-1 resulted in hepatic damage, as judged by elevated serum alkaline phosphatase and alanine aminotransferase activities (P<0.05).

4 This study indicates that prolonged feeding of excess dietary iron has the potential to cause hepatic accumulation of iron with resultant liver toxicity, and that mice may be a suitable model to study the mechanisms of dietary iron overload.

Human & Experimental Toxicology, Vol. 12, No. 6, 463-467 (1993)
DOI: 10.1177/096032719301200603


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