QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Ward, K. L. Articles by Rao, R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Ward, K. L. Articles by Rao, R.

---

Ingestive Behavior and Neurosciences

Gestational and Lactational Iron Deficiency Alters the Developing Striatal Metabolome and Associated Behaviors in Young Rats¹

² Department of Pediatrics and ³ Department of Radiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN; ⁴ Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN; ⁵ Center for Human Growth and Development, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI; ⁶ Department of Nutrition, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA; ⁷ Department of Neurosurgery, Pennsylvania State University Medical Center, Hershey, PA; ⁸ Department of Psychology, University of Texas, Austin, TX; ⁹ Institute of Child Development and ¹⁰ Center for Neurobehavioral Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: raoxx017{at}umn.edu.

Gestational and early postnatal iron deficiency occurs commonly in humans and results in altered behaviors suggestive of striatal dysfunction. We hypothesized that early iron deficiency alters the metabolome of the developing striatum and accounts for abnormalities in striatum-dependent behavior in rats. Sixteen metabolite concentrations from a 9–11 µL volume within the striatum were serially assessed in 10 iron-deficient and 10 iron-sufficient rats on postnatal days 8, 22 (peak anemia), and 37 (following recovery from anemia) using ¹H NMR spectroscopy at 9.4 tesla. Chin-elicited bilateral forelimb placing and vibrissae-elicited unilateral forelimb placing were also assessed on these days. Iron deficiency altered metabolites indexing energy metabolism, neurotransmission, glial integrity, and myelination over time (P < 0.05). Successful development of behaviors was delayed in the iron-deficient group (P 0.01). Alterations in creatine, glucose, glutamine, glutamate, N-acetylaspartate, myo-inositol, and glycerophosphorylcholine + phosphorylcholine concentrations accounted for 77–83% of the behavioral variability during peak anemia on postnatal day 22 in the iron-deficient group. Correction of anemia normalized the striatal metabolome but not the behaviors on postnatal day 37. These novel data imply that alterations in the metabolite profile of the striatum likely influence later neural functioning in early iron deficiency.