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Iron Supplementation of the Lactating Mouse and Suckling Neonates¹

Department of Biology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, and Veterans Administration Hospital, La Jolla, California 92161

Iron was administered orally or parenterally to lactating mice in an attempt to supplement their suckling neonates by raising the iron content of their milk. When rodent stock diet was fed, supplementation of lactating dams for 14 to 19 days by repeated intramuscular injection of iron-dextran increased ferritin iron stores significantly in the livers of both dams and sucklings, but hemoglobin concentration remained suboptimal in both dams and neonates unless supplemental copper was provided. Fed 10 mM FeSO₄ in a liquid milk diet (with or without 0.05 mM CuSO₄) for 19 days, lactating dams had maximal hemoglobin and stored 40-times more liver ferritin iron than unsupplemented dams; their sucklings developed hemoglobin concentrations that appeared maximal for the neonate and liver ferritin iron stores that were 18-times greater than those in sucklings from unsupplemented dams. Stock diet along with supplemental oral iron (5 mM ferric citrate polymer) and copper (0.05 mM CuSO₄) produced similar results and, in addition, raised maternal ceruloplasmin and neonatal liver copper concentrations above those of unsupplemented mice. Environmental contamination was ruled out as a source of supplemental iron for the sucklings. These data are the first to demonstrate that the iron content of milk can be raised in vivo by supplementation during lactation. Vigorous iron supplementation of the female mouse during lactation can thus be an effective way of maintaining optimal hemoglobin and ferritin iron reserves in both the dam and suckling neonates.

KEY WORDS: • iron • copper • ferritin • anemia • lactation

¹ Supported by USPHS research grant AM 12386 (P. S.), by postdoctoral fellowship AM 48724 (J. H.), and by a contract from the Dairy Council of California.

² Investigator to whom requests for reprints should be addressed at Mail Code Q-001, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, Calif. 92093.

Manuscript received 25 May 1976.

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