BACKGROUND: Effects of exercise on hematological iron status have been extensively studied in female rats, but those effects have not been observed in male rats.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of dietary iron contents and swimming exercise on hematological iron status of male rats.
METHODS: Ninety weaning male rats were assigned into three groups: dietary iron deficiency group, dietary iron sufficiency group and dietary high iron content group, and then each group was further divided into exercise group and sedentary group. After one month of feeding with different iron contents diet, the rats in each exercise group entered a swimming program once a day, lasting for 3 months, and the rats in the corresponding sedentary groups received approximately the same amount of handling as the exercised rats, except for swimming. Animals were fasted for 24 hours after the last exercise regimen and then blood collection was taken from their hearts under pentobarbital anesthesia for analyzing related index of red blood cells and total iron binding capacity (TIBC).
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Dietary iron contents could significantly affect the main effects of index of red blood and TIBC, and exercise could significantly affect the main effect of the red cell distribution and TIBC. In the dietary low iron content groups, the sedentary rats had the changes of iron deficiency with anemia, but the exercised rats had the significantly lower serum iron and transferrin saturation and the significantly higher TIBC. It showed that exercise under the condition of dietary iron deficiency could deteriorate serum iron status. Both in the dietary sufficient iron group and the dietary high iron content group, exercise could significantly increase red cell distribution and TIBC with no significant changes of other red blood cell indexes and serum iron, it suggested that exercise under the condition of dietary sufficient iron content may not induce the hematological low iron status.