Iron metabolism during pregnancy is biased toward maintaining the fetal supply, even at the cost of anemia in the mother. The mechanisms regulating this are not well understood. Here, we examine iron deficiency and supplementation on the hierarchy of iron supply and the gene expression of proteins that regulate iron metabolism in the rat. Dams were fed iron-deficient diets for 4 wk, mated, and either continued on the deficient diet or an iron-supplemented diet during either the first half or the second half of their pregnancy. A control group was maintained on normal iron throughout. They were killed at 0.5, 12.5, or 21.5 days of gestation, and tissues and blood samples were collected. Deficiency and supplementation had differential effects on maternal and fetal hematocrit and liver iron levels. From early in pregnancy, a hierarchy of iron supply is established benefiting the fetus to the detriment of the mother. Transferrin receptor, transferrin receptor 2, and hepcidin mRNA expression were regulated by both iron deficiency and supplementation. Expression patterns showed both organ and supplementation protocol dependence. Further analysis indicated that iron levels in the fetal, and not maternal, liver regulate the expression of liver transferrin receptor and hepcidin expression in the mother.

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Inadequate minerals intake, as well as disruption of some metabolic processes in which microelements are cofactors, are suggested to lead to the development of hypertension. The role of minerals in the pathogenesis of hypertension still remains to be explained. In the present study, we sought to determine associations between serum and hair mineral concentrations and serum lipids and glucose levels. Forty obese hypertensive subjects with insulin resistance and 40 healthy volunteers were recruited in the study. Blood pressure, BMI, and insulin resistance were recorded in all subjects. Levels of lipids, glucose, sodium and potassium, iron, copper, zinc, magnesium, and calcium were assessed in serum. Iron, copper, zinc, magnesium, and calcium were assessed in hair. Dietary intake of the analyzed minerals was estimated. We found distinctly higher concentrations of serum iron and serum and hair calcium as well as markedly lower levels of hair zinc in the hypertensive subjects. The study group manifested also significantly lower daily intake of calcium, magnesium, and iron. We observed a relationship between the concentrations of iron, zinc, and copper in serum and hair and high and low range of cholesterol, triglycerides, and glucose serum levels in the studied patients. Moreover, this study demonstrated significant correlation between serum and hair concentrations of selected minerals and their dietary intake and levels of serum lipids and glucose and blood pressure in the study and the control groups. The obtained results seem to indicate the association between lipid and glucose metabolism and iron, copper, zinc, and calcium concentrations in blood and hair of hypertensive and obese patients with insulin resistance.

Nondialyzable model Maillard reaction products (MRPs) were synthesized by reacting L-lysine with D-glucose, D-fructose, and D-ribose under different conditions of reaction time, temperature, pH, and water activity (a w ). Five experiments common to all three models yielding greater than 0.5g of MRPs were assessed for antioxidant activity. All MRPs exhibited detectable, but variable, non site-specific hydroxyl radical ( • OH) scavenging activity (30-90%) in the deoxyribose assay. MRPs derived from a ribose-lysine study showed the highest • OH scavenging activity (80-90%) in both deoxyribose and DNA nicking assays. All MRPs at higher concentrations (0.2 mg/mL) decreased lipid peroxidation in linoleic acid emulsions. Relative effectiveness of different MRPs to scavenge free radicals can vary with reaction conditions and substrates.

The objective of this study was to determine the content and the bioaccessibility of minerals (Fe, Zn,