Long-term consequences of early iron deficiency in the rat.

A period of severe early iron deficiency (birth to 28 days of age) produced a persistent deficit (22%) in brain non-heme iron in adult rehabilitated animals. Long-term effects on behavior and physiological responsiveness were also observed. Although rehabilitated and control animals did not differ either in basal levels of plasma corticosterone or in the time course of the stress response following ether and cardiac puncture, possible differences in pituitary-adrenal responsiveness appeared to emerge following testing in an exploratory task. In addition, significant differences between rehabilitated and control animals were observed in both active and passive avoidance learning. Rehabilitated males made more intertrial responses than control males during active avoidance learning, and rehabilitated animals of both sexes performed better (i.e. showed longer reentry latencies) in a passive avoidance situation. It was suggested that shock may differentially affect motivation or arousal in rehabilitated and control animals.