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Impaired Milk Folate Secretion is not Corrected by Supplemental Folate during Iron Deficiency in Rats^1,2,

Deborah L. O'Connor^*, Mary Frances Picciano^**,3, Tsunenobu Tamura and Barry Shane

^* Division of Applied Human Nutrition, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1 ^** Division of Nutritional Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801 Department of Nutrition Sciences, University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL 35294 Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720

Decreased milk folate secretion in iron-deficient rat dams contributes to the impairment of folate metabolism in nursing pups. The present study was designed to assess whether impaired milk folate secretion secondary to iron deficiency is due to a decrease in the supply of folate to the mammary gland or to an inability of the mammary gland to effectively use folate. Rats were fed diets containing 0.5, 2.0 or 7.0 mg folate/kg and 8 (-Fe) or 250 (+Fe) mg Fe/kg throughout gestation and until d 17 of lactation. Regardless of dietary Fe content, maternal plasma, red blood cell, liver and kidney folate concentrations correlated with dietary folate content (r = 0.75–0.85, p < 0.0001). With the exception of plasma folate level, which was 46% lower for -Fe than +Fe dams fed 0.5 mg folate/kg, no other differences in indices of folate status were noted between +Fe and -Fe dams. Dietary folate content had a direct impact on milk folate content in +Fe dams but not in -Fe dams. Mammary tissue methionine synthase and folylpolyglutamate synthetase activities were not depressed in Fe deficiency; rather, mean activities were elevated among -Fe dams fed 0.5 mg folate/kg. In conclusion, the reduction in milk folate secretion during Fe deficiency is not due to a decrease in the amount of folate supplied to the mammary gland; rather, the defect causing this reduction is specific to the mammary gland.

KEY WORDS: • iron deficiency • folate • milk • lactation • rats

¹ Presented in part at the 1989 meeting of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, March 18–23, New Orleans, LA [O'CONNOR, D. L., PICIANO, M. F. & ANDREWS, J. D. (1989) Impaired milk folate secretion is not corrected by supplemental folate during iron deficiency. FASEB J. 3: A3144 (abs.)].

² Supported in part by U.S. Department of Agriculture competitive grant AG84-CRCR-1493, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and National Institute of Health grants CA28103 and CA41991.

³ To whom reprint requests should be sent. Present address: Department of Nutrition, Henderson Building, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802.

Manuscript received 7 August 1989. Revision accepted 27 November 1989.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. Khambalia, M. E. Latulippe, C. Campos, C. Merlos, S. Villalpando, M. F. Picciano, and D. L. O'Connor Milk Folate Secretion Is Not Impaired during Iron Deficiency in Humans J. Nutr., October 1, 2006; 136(10): 2617 - 2624. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]