Normal folic acid metabolism in iron-deficient rats

Abstract

1. Weanling rats were fed on an iron-deficient diet without added folic acid and litter-mate controls received the same diet supplemented with Fe. Groups of deficient and control animals were killed at intervals of up to 88 days and glutamate formiminotransferase activity in liver and folic acid activity in liver and serum were measured.2. No differences were found between the results from the deficient and control animals, although the deficient diet produced marked falls in haemoglobin, packed cell volume and serum iron.3. In a second experiment folic acid was added to the diets and twelve rats received the Fe-deficient diet and their litter-mates were fed on the Fe-supplemented diet for 91 days. No differences were found in the activity of glutamate formiminotransferase purified from the combined livers of the two groups.