Erythrocyte protoporphyrin during recovery from malnutrition in rats

Interrelationships between Erythrocyte Protoporphyrin (EP), dietary Iron/Protein ratio (Fe/Prot) and Fe liver content (Feh) were studied during nutritional recovery in an experimental model: weanling female Wistar rats (To) were depleted with a protein-free diet (LP), losing 20% of their initial body weight. Then they were recovered until 45 days of age (T45) with diets containing: casein: 20 g/100 g; Fe (ammonium Fe citrate) (ppm.): 0, 75 or 100 (groups A1, A2 and A3, respectively). Hematocrit, Hemoglobin (Hb) (g/dL). Erythrocyte Protoporphyrin (EP) (microgram/dL Red Blood Cells) and Feh (microgram) were determined at To, LP and T45. Results were compared with control rats (C) fed with 20% of casein and Fe, 50 ppm. EP: a) decreased in C from To to T45 (99 +/- 24; 36 +/- 9; p < 0.01); b) increased in A1 and A2 at T45 (123 +/- 21; 93 +/- 29, respectively, p < 0.01) while A3 did not show significant difference (45 +/- 7) regarding to C: c) correlated inversely with Feh. According to the inverse correlation between EP and Fe/Prot (r = -0.99), we found that 92 ppm was an adequate Fe amount to prevent EP increase. These results confirm that during recovery from undernutrition EP depends on iron liver content, being an adequate indicator of iron nutritional status; therefore, EP would be useful as a predictor of the optimum Fe/Prot ratio for nutritional recovery.