Ratio of hemoglobin iron to liver in rats fed different amounts of iron.

Groups of young rats were fed diets containing amounts of iron designed to provide 0.1, 0.3, 1, 3, 10 or 30-times the iron requirement for the rat, and containing two different levels of protein. Iron deficiency anemia was most pronounced in rats receiving the larger amount of protein. In the case of most normal diets, the ratio of iron in the hemoglobin to iron stored in the liver was 26 +/- 6. This is in marked contrast with the ratio of 4.3 found in rats fed a common breakfast cereal.