The Effect of Date Palm (Phoenix Dactylifera) and Goat Milk on Iron Metabolism in Iron Deficiency Anaemia (IDA) Induced Rat
Iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) is a condition in which blood lacks adequate healthy red blood cells due to insufficient iron. The current management of IDA is often linked to adverse side effects and issues with compliance. Therefore, this study aims to explore the potential of using date palm and go...
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| Summary: | Iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) is a condition in which blood lacks adequate healthy red blood cells due to insufficient iron. The current management of IDA is often linked to adverse side effects and issues with compliance. Therefore, this study aims to explore the potential of using date palm and goat milk as natural alternative remedies to manage IDA. It has been demonstrated that date palm and goat milk exhibit anti-anaemic properties. In this study, rats were assigned randomly into six groups of four rats; (1) normal control; (2) negative control; (3) positive control; (4) date palm; (5) goat milk; (6) date palm and goat milk. The normal control was given commercial pellets whereas the rest of the groups (Groups 2 -6) were given low-iron diets for two weeks to generate IDA condition. IDA was defined as Hb values less than 11.5 g/dL. After IDA conformation, the negative control (Group 2) was continuously given a low iron diet and acted as the IDA model group while the positive control (Group 3) was given iron tablets as the standard treatment for IDA. The date palm (Group 4) and goat milk (Group 5) were given date palm and goat milk, respectively while the date palm and goat milk (Group 6) were supplemented with both date palm and goat milk. Supplementation was given every morning for 4 weeks in accordance with the animal equivalent dosage (AED). Bodyweight, RBC parameters, iron profile, iron bioavailability and iron metabolism-related genes and protein expression were investigated accordingly. After the intervention, improvement in body weight was observed in all intervention groups, with an increment of at least 110g. Up-regulation of indices of iron deficiency was noted, with intervention groups recording Hb and serum iron levels ranging from 13.85 to 16.18 g/dL and 29.35 to 31.95 μmol/L, respectively as compared to the negative control (6.68 ± 3.09 g/dL; 3.13 ± 0.74 μmol/L). A significant increase was also seen in RBC, PCV and serum transferrin saturation levels post-intervention. Investigation of iron bioavailability using haemoglobin regeneration efficiency (HRE) demonstrated a significant increase in negative control with a value of 21.7%, as compared to normal control with 3.7%, while intervention groups recorded HRE values ranging from 4.58% to 5.58%. Results from the gene expressions study showed that iron deficiency increased the expression of Dcytb, transferrin, ferroportin and TfR mRNA by 13, 9, 1.5 and 1.2-fold respectively, as compared to normal control. Supplementation with date palm and goat milk for 4 weeks successfully normalises the expression of those genes in the small intestine. In the liver, significant up-regulation of TfR mRNA up to 11.6-folds was seen in the negative control as compared to normal control and that the intervention of date palm and goat milk normalize the TfR expression. Immunohistochemistry results showed that DMT1 and Dcytb were expressed along the brush border membrane of epithelial enterocytes consistent with their function in iron import. TfR was expressed in the epithelial cell of the crypts and villi, with decreased intensity as epithelial cells migrated apically toward the villus tip consistent with its function in supplying iron for new cell growth. Iron deficiency significantly increases the reactivity of TfR in the small intestine with positive reactivity observed on both apical and basolateral sides of the epithelium villi with brush border membrane also stained positive. Intervention with date palm and goat milk normalises the TfR expression. The results obtained suggest that supplementation of date palm and goat milk improves functional iron availability for erythropoiesis following IDA. |
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