Inhibition of the intestinal absorption of iron by sodium alginate and guar gum in rats.

Na-alginate as well as guar gum inhibit the absorption of a 59Fe-labelled iron dose (360 nmol) from tied-off jejunal segments of either normal or iron-deficient rats. In order to inhibit the absorption of the iron dose by half as compared with normal rats to which ionized iron was administered 1.2--8 mg of guar gum and 8-30 mg Na-alginate was necessary. In iron-deficient rats the highest dose dose of Na-alginate tested, 100 mg, inhibited the absorption of iron by about 20%; the highest dose of guar gum, 30 mg, inhibited the amount of iron absorbed by about 25%. An artificial diet containing 10% of either guar gum and Na-alginate fed for 3 days inhibited the absorption of iron in normal but not in iron-deficient rats. Also, in these experiments guar gum proved to be more effective than Na-alginate.