Gestational Iron Supplementation Improves Fetal Outcomes in a Rat Model of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure.

ABSTRACT: Prenatal alcohol exposure causes neurodevelopmental disability and is associated with a functional iron deficiency in the fetus and neonate, even when the mother consumes an apparently iron-adequate diet. Here, we test whether gestational administration of the clinically relevant iron supplement Fer-In-Sol mitigates alcohol's adverse impacts upon the fetus. Pregnant Long-Evans rats consumed an iron-adequate diet and received 5 g/kg alcohol by gavage for 7 days in late pregnancy. Concurrently, some mothers received 6 mg/kg oral iron. We measured maternal and fetal weights, hematology, tissue iron content, and oxidative damage on gestational day 20.5. Alcohol caused fetal anemia, decreased fetal body and brain weight, increased hepatic iron content, and modestly elevated hepatic malondialdeh

SUBMITTER: Helfrich KK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9025692 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature