Effect of different doses of ferrous sulfate drug on some haematological parameters in male albino rat

The study was designed to investigate the effect of different doses and different durations of ferrous sulfate drug administration on some blood criteria, using 48 males of albino rats. The animals were divided into four main groups (12 males for each group), the first group control and the other three groups were orally intragastric administrated with (50,75,100) mg/kg bw for three periods (4,6,8) weeks . The blood samples were collected to measure the haematological criteria that include Red Blood Cells count (RBCs) , blood haemoglobine (Hb),Packed Cell Volume(PCV),Mean Corpuscle Haemoglobine Concentration (MCHC), Mean Corpuscular Haemoglobine (MCH) and Mean Corpuscle Volume (MCV). Results of this study revealed , that ferrous sulfate administration causes a significant elevation for all haematological parameters which proportionally increased with the dosage levels and dosage durations. It was also observed a significant effect of interaction between different doses and periods on most haematological parameters except MCH and MCHC. All results compared with control group and between treated groups. The results suggested that the administration of ferrous sulfate drug in high dosing level and long durations may causes defect in haemopoesis especially erythropoiesis that indicated by increased blood parameters level rather than treatment of iron deficiency anemia because of iron supply increase. Introduction Iron is a nutrient that is related to health and immunity (Heidarpouret al.,2008). It is the most common element on earth ,unfortunately iron is chemically unstable and easily oxidized into an insoluble ferric form , ferric iron is unavailable in most biological systems (Mohriet al.,2006). Iron is an essential component of haemoglobin, myoglobin and several enzymes such as catalase , peroxidase ,cytochrome oxidase and ribinucleotide reductase (Harvey,2000). Iron of organic (heme) or inorganic (non-heme)origin is a physiologically important element that plays vital role in erythropoiesis, oxygen transport, oxidative energy production and mitochondrial respiration (Coplin et al.,2000). Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is the most prevalent nutritional deficiency worldwide and it is often associated with trace iron change, it is a major public health affects over two billion people (WHO/UNICEF/UNU, 2001). The main cause of iron deficiency is the low iron bioavailability of the diet that’s lead to depletion of iron in haemoglobin and reduction in the numbers of Red Blood Cells (RBCs) , the consequences of iron deficiency are many and serious, affecting not only individuals health but also the development of societies and countries (Yip,1994). The main treatment of iron deficiency anemia include treatment with ferrous iron as ferrous sulfate (FeSo4) which is much better absorbed than ferric iron e.g. ferric citrate (Davidsson et al.,2000). But, numerous studies concluded that oral administration of FeSo4 for long durations may be lead to defect in haemopoisis provided by an increase in haematological parameters in human (Frykman et al.,1994 ; Conrad,2006)and animal (Gygax et al.,1993; Kume and Tanabe ,1996; Bosted et al.,2000). Therefore , this study designed to clarify the effect of different doses and periods of oral administration of FeSo4 on some haematological parameters in albino rat. Materials and Methods Animals: Forty eight healthy adult males of albino rat weighing (193±11) g and approximately age (10-11) weeks, maintained in the animal house of College of Veterinary Medicine / Kufa University were used in the present study.Water was supplied ad libitum. They were fed a normal commercial stock diet which contained 35%wheat grains, 35% corn grains,18% Soya, 10% protein and 2% minerals and vitamins. The animals were housed under a 12h:12h light/dark cycle and maintained in controlled temperature (25±2oC). Experimental design: These forty eight males of albino rat were divided in four main groups, with 12 animals in each one , and then each of these groups were divided into three groups (4 males of each). The first group served as a control and received tap water, other three groups were exposed for administration of ( 50 , 75 and 100 ) mg ferrous sulfate (FeSo4) / kg bw by orally intragastric intubations for ( 4 , 6 , 8 ) weeks . At the end of each three administration periods sacrifice ( 4 rats ) for each four subdivided groups and used to collection of samples. Collection of samples: 5 ml of blood was collected from each rat by cardiac puncture using sterile disposable syringeand put in a test tube containing ethylene-diamine-tetraacetic acid (EDTA) and used for haematological examinations. Haematological examinations: All haematological examinations were performed in the haematology center of Al-Sader teaching hospital in Al-Najaf province. Hemoglobin was measured by the cyanomethaemoglobin method using Randox kits, Randox: Laboratories, USA (Dacie and Lewis, 1975). Hematocrite was measured by centrifugation of blood collected into heparinized microcapillary tubes no. 563 supplied by Bio Merieux and calculate the percentage of PCV by particular ruler (Hillman and Ault, 2002). Red blood cells count (RBCs) was counted manually (Monica, 2004). Mean cell hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) was calculated using the equation: MCHC = [ (Hb*100) / PCV]. Mean cell hemoglobin (MCH) was calculated using the equation: MCH = [ (Hb*10) / RBC]. Mean red cell volume (MCV) was calculated using the equation: MCV = [ (PCV*10) / RBC] (Hillman and Ault, 2002). Statistical analysis All results were expressed as the mean ±SD. Statistical analysis was performed with statistical package for the social science for windows (SPSS, version 10 ). One-way ANOVA was used to find the effect of ferrous sulfate according to the dose and period of treatment on measured haematological parameters . Also one-way ANOVA use to find the interaction between the dose and period . Differences between observations were considered significant at P<0.05.