Abstract
Hart and his collaborators 1 reported that anemic rats did not recover when pure iron salts were administered unless small amounts of copper were also given. These observations have been confirmed in several laboratories, but Myers and his collaborators 2 have always been able to secure some response with iron alone.
The present series of experiments continues work previously reported designed to gain some insight into the reasons for the conflicting results. It is well-known that many factors may affect intestinal absorption of iron. We have therefore studied the effect of parenterally administered solutions of ferric chloride. Rats were made anemic by restriction to a diet of certified milk, using both the technic described by Waddell et al 3 and the method of Elvejhem and Kemmerer. 4 No difference in the response of the anemic animals to treatment was observed with either procedure. The animals, which were severely anemic, were injected intraperitoneally with ferric chloride solutions prepared from electrolytic iron. The stock solution of iron was diluted with warm, sterile saline solution (prepared from copper-free sodium chloride) and injected immediately after dilution, using a tuberculin syringe and chromium plated needles. The dilutions were so arranged that the amount of fluid injected into each animal was always 0.50 cc. regardless of the dosage. The acidity of the original stock solution was also adjusted so that the reaction of the material injected was between pH 2.0 and pH 2.5. To avoid excessive irritation the animals received injections only on alternate days. At regular weekly intervals hemoglobin determinations and red cell counts were made upon blood obtained by clipping the tail. The rats consumed 20 to 30 cc. of milk daily at the beginning of the experiment, increased the intake with the instigation of iron therapy, and drank as much as 90 to 100 cc. per day after attaining a weight of about 125 gm.
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