The nature of dietary carbohydrate plays an important role in the pathogenesis of copper deficiency. Fructose feeding, but not starch feeding, induces severe pathologies and premature mortality in copper-deficient rats. The aim of this investigation was to test the effect of high dietary iron in promoting pathologies associated with copper deficiency when starch was the sole source of dietary carbohydrate. Weanling, male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed for 5 weeks diets that were either deficient (0.6 ±0.1μg/g)or adequate (7.0 ± 0.1 μg/g) in copper and either adequate (46 ± 3 μg/g) or high (505 ± 7 μg/g) in iron. The diets contained either fructose or starch as the sole source of dietary carbohydrate. The consumption of a diet inadequate in copper but high in iron resulted in severe pathological changes, including anemia, heart enlargement, pancreatic atrophy, hyperlipidemia, and premature mortality. These changes occurred in all copper-deficient rats fed the high-iron diet, regardless of whether they consumed fructose or starch. The data show that once dietary starch was challenged with high levels of dietary iron, pathologies and premature mortality associated with copper deficiency were similar to those produced by fructose. These results may be important for those persons who consume iron supplements but whose intake of copper is sub
展开▼
