Effect of iron overload on iron accumulation and oxidative damage in brain of offsprings in rat

Objective To explore whether continuous parent-offspring iron supplementation could induce iron accumulation and oxidative damage in the brain of offspring rat.Methods Twenty-four 4-week-old Wistar rats(female:male=2:1)were randomly divided into a control group and three groups of with low-,medium-,and high-dose iron overload.The rats in the control group had normal foodstuff(50 mg/kg iron) and those in the three treatment groups had the foodstuff with high iron of 150,450,and 1 350 mg/kg continuously for 12 weeks before the mating and the offspring rats of the 4 groups had the same foodstuff as their parents 14 weeks after their births.At the end of the treatments,the contents of brain iron,malondialdehyde(MDA),the activities of superoxide dismutase(SOD),glutathione peroxidase(GSH-Px),and serum iron content of the offspring rats were measured.Results The brain iron concentrations were 103.05±4.73,130.72±34.82,and 134.17±29.45 μg/g for the offspring rats in low-,medium-,and high-iron overload group,respectively,which were significantly higher than that in the control group(68.72±6.60 μg/g)(all P<0.05).The serum iron contents of medium- and high-iron overload offspring rats were 2.04±0.21 and 2.13±0.21μg/L,and were significantly higher than that of the control offspring rats(1.69±0.8 mg/L)(all P<0.05).Moreover,the brain MDA concentrations of low-,medium-,and high-iron overload offspring rats were 4.41±0.78,5.05±0.25,and 4.40±1.16 nmol/mg prot,respectively,and were significantly higher than that of the offspring rats in the control group(3.25±0.71 nmol/mg prot)(all P<0.05).The brain GSH-Px activity the medium-iron overload offspring rats was significantly higher than that of control offspring rats(1.39±0.40 vs.0.96±0.35 activity-unit)(P<0.05).Conclusion Continuous parent-offspring high iron supplementation could increase iron content in the serum and brain and induce a high level of brain oxidative stress significantly in the offspring rats.