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Iron Supplementation and Exercise During Pregnancy: Effects on Behavior and the Dopaminergic System

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Abstract  

Although it is known that regular physical activity is recommended as part of a healthy lifestyle, the number of data concerning efficacy of exercise and your relationship with a demand for iron during pregnancy is limited. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between iron supplementation and exercise during pregnancy on the behavior of rats. Molecular variables dopamine transporter (DAT) and dopamine receptor (D2) related to the locomotor behavior in response to the exercise and the iron supplemented diet were investigated. Sixty-day-old female Wistar rats were used. The pregnant rats were distributed into the following groups: standard diet (SD, n = 7), iron supplementation (IS, n = 9), exercise (EX, n = 10), and exercise + iron supplementation (EX + IS, n = 9). All rats in both the pregnant and non-pregnant groups were submitted to open-field tests. The iron supplementation diet was shown to reduce locomotor behaviors, with reduced central and peripheral ambulation, reduced rearing, and increased freezing. On the other hand, physical exercise caused an increase in central and peripheral ambulation, and in rearing. The expression of the D2 receptor protein and the dopamine transporter DAT did not show changes with the interventions over 21 days of pregnancy. In this context, the present study demonstrated that both iron supplementation and exercise exerted an influence during pregnancy on the behavior of rats, however, with different effects.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

D2:

Dopamine receptor type 2

DA:

Dopamine

DAT:

Dopamine transporter

DTT:

Dithiothreitol; Cleland’s reagent

EDTA:

Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

EX:

Exercise

EX + IS:

Exercise + iron supplementation

IS:

Iron supplementation

PSMF:

Phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride

RLS:

Restless legs syndrome

SD:

Standard diet

SDS-PAGE:

Sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis

WHO:

World Health Organization

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (2015/09490-6) and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico –CNPq, and this study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior –Brazil (CAPES) — Finance Code 001. The authors would like to thank the laboratories: Laboratório de Sono e Exercício Físico — LASEF, Laboratório de Distúrbios do Metabolismo LABDIME, Laboratory of Applied Sport Physiology— LAFAE, Laboratório de Biologia Molecular do Exercício — LABMEX and Laboratório de Propriedades Funcionais em Alimentos — LAPFAL.

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Author notes

  1. Daubian-Nosé and Franco contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculdade de Ciências Aplicadas, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Jardim Santa Luiza, Rua Pedro Zaccaria, Limeira, São Paulo, 1300CEP 13484350, Brazil

    Daubian-Nosé P., De Fante T., Forte LDM, Manchado-Gobatto F. B., Bezerra R. M., Torsoni A. S. & Esteves A. M.

  2. Faculdade de Educação Física, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Limeira, Brazil

    Franco B.

  3. Sleep and Epilepsy Center, Neurocenter of Southern Switzerland, Civic Hospital of Lugano (EOC), Lugano, Switzerland

    Manconi M.

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Contributions

PD–N and BF — conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, investigation, methodology, supervision, validation, roles/writing — original draft, and writing — review and editing. TDF and LDMF — data curation, formal analysis, investigation, and methodology. FBM-G, RMB, MM, and AST — roles/writing — original draft and writing — review and editing. AME — conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, investigation, methodology, project administration, supervision, validation, roles/writing — original draft, and writing — review and editing. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Esteves A. M..

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The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethics Approval

This study was performed in line with the principles of the Conselho Nacional de Controle da Experimentação Animal (CONCEA). Approval was granted by the Comissão de Ética no Uso de Animais (CEUA) of Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Limeira, Brazil (Date:08/11/2014/No 3471–1).

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P., DN., B., F., T., D.F. et al. Iron Supplementation and Exercise During Pregnancy: Effects on Behavior and the Dopaminergic System. Biol Trace Elem Res 201, 1639–1647 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-022-03306-3

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