Relative effectiveness of iron bis-glycinate chelate (Ferrochel) and ferrous sulfate in the control of iron deficiency in pregnant women.

The relative effectiveness of daily supplementation of iron deficiency during pregnancy using 15 mg/day of iron from iron-bis-glycinate chelate (71 pregnant women), or 40 mg iron from ferrous sulfate (74 pregnant women) was evaluated by measuring hemoglobin, transferrin saturation and serum ferritin, at the beginning of the study (< 20 weeks of pregnancy) and at 20-30 weeks and 30-40 weeks thereafter. Ingestion for 13 weeks or more was considered adequate. Seventy three percent of the Ferrochel consuming group and 35% of the ferrous sulfate consuming group were considered to have taken the treatment adequately. The decrease in levels of all the measured parameters was significantly less pronounced in the group that consumed Ferrochel in spite of the lower treatment dose. Iron depletion was found in 30.8% of the women treated with Ferrochel and in 54.5% of the women than consumed ferrous sulfate. Of the factors responsible for non compliance taste was reported in 29.8% of the ferrous sulfate consumers and none in the groups that consumed Ferrochel. It is concluded that daily supplementation with Ferrochel was significantly more effective, in spite of the lower dose, than supplementation with ferrous sulfate.

[Rice and bean diets increase hepatic and plasmatic activity of gammaglutamyltranspeptidase in young rats]. / Dietas à base de arroz e feijão aumentam a atividade plasmática e hepática da gama-glutamiltranspeptidadase em ratos jovens.

The effect of feeding rice and bean diets in both hepatic and plasmatic activity of gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase-(GGT-EC 2.3.2.2) activity was evaluated in growing-rats (Experiment A) and mature rats (Experiment B). During 28 days, the animals were fed with isocaloric-diets composed by tree levels of rice, bean or rice-and-bean protein. Similarly with the aproteic group, a significant increase on both the hepatic and plasmatic GGT activity were showed with the lowest levels of protein, when compared with 25% casein control group. This rise was more effective in growing-rats fed on legume-based diets (as bean or rice-and-bean diets), making evident a differential effect of age and an exacerbated effect of the protein restriction with the lowest sulfur amino acids disposal. These alterations suggest a metabolic adaptation of GGT to both the inadequate protein and sulfur-amino acid levels, thus supporting the hypothesis that the Glutathione levels may be reduced by these legume-based diets.

[Iron nutritional status in pregnant adolescents, São Paulo, Brazil]. / Estado nutricional del hierro de gestantes adolescentes, São Paulo, Brasil.

The frequency of anemia, iron deficiency and iron body stores was assessed in 155 pregnant teenagers of low socioeconomic status in a prenatal care unit of a beneficent hospital in São Paulo, Brazil. By the criterion of the World Health Organization (Hb < 12 g/dL) 14.2% of the pregnant adolescents had anemia. The iron deficiency diagnostic by saturation of transferrin < 16% and zinc protoporphyrin concentration > 60 (mol/mol heme were 45.8 and 42.6%, respectively. The iron body store (serum ferritin < 12 micrograms/L) was depleted for 48.4% of adolescents. It is concluded that the iron nutritional status of these adolescents were characteristics of the pregravidic inadequate iron store. Despite low percentage of the anemia, the high frequency of iron deficiency and depleted iron stores suggest a practical procedure to detect iron deficiency and the use of iron supplementation in teenagers.

DL-methionine supplementation of rice-and-bean diets affects gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase activity and glutathione content in livers of growing rats.

Gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT-EC 2.3.2.2) activity and glutathione (GSH) content were measured in livers of female weanling Wistar rats (N = 5-18), submitted to rice-and-bean diets (13 and 6% w/w protein), both supplemented or not with DL-methionine (0.5 and 0.23 g/100 g dry diet, respectively). After 28 days, the rats on the rice-and-bean diets showed significantly higher levels (four times higher) of liver GGT activity and a concomitant 50% lower concentration of liver GSH in comparison with control groups feeding on casein. The addition of DL-methionine to rice-and-bean diets significantly increased the liver GSH content, which reached levels 50% higher than those found in animals on casein diets. The increase in GSH was accompanied by a decrease in liver GGT activity, which did not reach levels as low as those observed in the control groups. No significant correlation could be established between GGT and GSH changes under the present experimental conditions. Linear correlation analysis only revealed that in animals submitted to unsupplemented rice-and-bean diets GSH concentration was positively associated (P < 0.05) with weight gain, food intake and food efficiency. GGT, however, was negatively correlated (P < 0.05) with food intake only, and exclusively for supplemented rice-and-bean diets. The high levels of GGT activity observed in the present study for rats receiving a rice-and-bean mixture could be a result of the poor quality of these diets associated with their deficiency in sulfur amino acids. The results also suggest that diet supplementation with methionine could be important in the reduction of the deleterious effects of GSH depletion by restoring the intracellular concentration of this tripeptide.