Figure 1.
3 various protocols of iron dextran administration in piglets are indicated as A, B and C. Iron dextran was injected to piglets on days indicated by arrows. Blood samples were collected on days 3, 14, 21 and 28 after birth. When iron dextran injection and blood collection fell on the same day, blood was always drawn before iron administration.
Figure 2.
Pig Hepcidin-25 quantification by mass spectrometry.
Hepcidin-25 measurements in piglet plasma were performed by peptide enrichment through weak cation exchange chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry (WCX-TOF MS). Note that quantification is based on the relative intensity of the piglet hepcidin peak with mass/charge ratio (m/z) of 2750 to that of the synthetic internal standard (IS) that is spiked in the know concentration of 10 nM to each sample prior to sample work-up. The four spectra illustrate the appearance of hepcidin-25 upon iron injection in group A, pig № 34 at days 3 (baseline), 14, 21 and 28.
Figure 3.
Plasma iron parameters of piglets supplemented with iron dextran according to various protocols.
A; plasma iron level. B; total iron binding capacity. C; iron transferrin saturation. Values are expressed as the means ± S.D. Plasma iron parameters were determined for 9 piglets from each experimental group. Different capital and small letters denote statistically significant difference at P≤0.01 and P≤0.05, respectively, between parameters of piglets from different groups on a given day of experiment.
Table 1.
Hematological parameters (mean ± SD) of piglets supplemented with iron dextran according to various protocols.
Figure 4.
Hepcidin concentration in blood plasma of piglets supplemented with iron dextran according to various protocols.
Values are expressed as the means ± S.D. Hepcidin concentration was determined for 5–7 piglets from each group/day. Different capital and small letters denotes statistically significant difference at P≤0.01 and P≤0.05, respectively, between parameters of piglets from different groups on a given day of experiment.