Marginally reduced maternal hepatic and splenic ferroportin under severe nutritional iron deficiency in pregnancy maintains systemic iron supply.

ABSTRACT: The demand for iron is high in pregnancy to meet the increased requirements for erythropoiesis. Even pregnant females with initially iron-replete stores develop iron-deficiency anemia, due to inadequate iron absorption. In anemic females, the maternal iron supply is dedicated to maintaining iron metabolism in the fetus and placenta. Here, using a mouse model of iron deficiency in pregnancy, we show that iron recycled from senescent erythrocytes becomes a predominant source of this microelement that can be transferred to the placenta in females with depleted iron stores. Ferroportin is a key protein in the molecular machinery of cellular iron egress. We demonstrate that under iron deficiency in pregnancy, levels of ferroportin are greatly reduced in the duodenum, placenta and fetal liver, b

SUBMITTER: Mazgaj R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8251567 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature