ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
Daily Supplementation with Iron Increases Lipid Peroxidation in Young
Women with Low Iron Stores
Sarah M. King*,1, Carmen M. Donangelo, Mitchell D. Knutson*,2, Patrick
B. Walter,3, Bruce N. Ames,3, Fernando E. Viteri*,4,3 and Janet C.
King,3
* Department of Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology, University of
California, Berkeley, California 94720;  Laboratório de Bioquímica
Nutricional e de Alimentos, Departamento de Bioquimica, Instituto de
Quimica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, 21949–900 Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil;  Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University
of California, Berkeley, California 94720; and  USDA Western Human
Nutrition Research Center, Davis, California 95616

To whom requests for reprints should be addressed at 4 Children’s
Hospital Oakland Research Institute, 5700 Martin Luther King Jr. Way,
Oakland, CA 94609. E-mail fviteri@chori.org

The aim of this study was to determine whether women with low iron
stores (plasma ferritin  20 µg/L) receiving a daily iron supplement
for 8 wks at a level commonly used to treat poor iron status develop
increased lipid peroxidation as measured by ethane exhalation rates
and plasma malondialdehyde.
The women served as their own control as pre- and post-supplementation
periods were compared.
Twelve women participated in the study for a 70-day period and
consumed daily iron supplements (98 mg of iron as ferrous sulfate)
from day 14 to day 70.
Baseline blood and expired air samples were obtained on days 1 and 14;
measurements during supplementation were performed on days 56 and 70,
that is at 6 and 8 weeks of supplementation.
Iron status improved during the iron supplementation period;
biochemical indicators of lipid peroxidation also increased.
After 6 wks of iron supplementation, serum ferritin almost doubled and
body iron more than doubled.
Hemoglobin levels increased slightly and other indicators of iron
status became normal.
However, plasma malondialdehyde (MDA) and breath ethane exhalation
rates (BEER) increased by more than 40% between baseline and 6 wks of
supplementation; these increases correlated significantly with plasma
iron and ferritin levels.
MDA was positively correlated with BEER. BEER increased further after
8 wks of iron supplementation.
The increased indicators of lipid peroxidation with duration of
supplementation and as iron status improved suggest that providing
daily nearly 100 mg iron may not be a totally innocuous regimen for
correcting iron depletion in women.

Key Words: iron • supplements • malondialdehyde • breath ethane •
lipid peroxidation • oxidative stress • iron status • women
First published online April 11, 2008
Experimental Biology and Medicine 233:701-707 (2008)
doi: 10.3181/0708-RM-233
© 2008 by the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine

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