Relation of Calcium and of Iron to the Erythrocyte and Hemoglobin Content of the Blood of Rats Consuming a Mineral Deficient Ration

Abstract

The administration of a complete salt mixture to rats fed a basal ration extremely low in inorganic salts both alleviates and prevents the marked polycythemia and concurrent mild anemia which otherwise persist or develop. Calcium alone, fed as the ‘C.P.’ or highly purified carbonate, exerts a comparable restorative and preventive action. Iron alone, fed as purified ferric chloride, shows a similar preventive effect but is not consistently efficacious as a restorative agent. Further available data indicate that none of the other common inorganic elements known to be deficient in the salt poor diet, with the possible exception of phosphorus, are concerned in the production of the blood changes under discussion. It appears, therefore, that the hematological abnormalities which occur in rats as a result of the feeding of the mineral deficient ration are due chiefly, if not entirely, to a lack of calcium and/or iron.