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Iron Dyshomeostasis Participated in Rat Hippocampus Toxicity Caused by Aluminum Chloride

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Abstract

Aluminum (Al) alters iron regulatory factors content and leads to the changes in iron-related proteins causing iron accumulation. But limited evidence ascertains this hypothesis. Therefore, our experiment was conducted and four groups of male Wistar rats were orally administrated of 0, 50, 150, and 450 mg/kg BW/d aluminum chloride (AlCl3) for 90 days by drinking water, respectively. The cognitive function, pathological lesion of hippocampus, oxidative stress, as well as iron-related proteins and iron regulatory factors expression were detected. The results showed that AlCl3 remarkably induced the oxidative stress and pathological lesion in the hippocampus and impaired the learning-memory ability. The contents of Al and iron increased in all AlCl3-exposed groups. Meanwhile, the increased divalent metal transporter 1 (DMT1) expression enhanced iron import and the decreased ferroportin 1 (Fpn1) expression reduced iron export in AlCl3-exposed groups. The iron accumulated and ferritin heavy chains (Fth) expression decreased in all AlCl3-exposed groups led to an increase in free iron. The study also showed that iron regulatory factor iron regulatory protein 2 (IRP2) was decreased and hepcidin was increased in AlCl3-exposed groups. The results indicated that AlCl3 induces iron dyshomeostasis presenting as iron accumulation, the disordered expression of iron import, export, store, and regulatory proteins in rat hippocampus accompanied with oxidative stress, pathological lesion, and impaired learning-memory ability.

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Acknowledgments

The study was supported by a grant from The National Natural Science Foundation of China (31872530).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of the Provincial Education, Department of Heilongjiang for Common Animal Disease Prevention and Treatment, College of Veterinary Medicine, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, 150030, China

    Jian Zhang, Wanyue Huang, Zheng Cao & Yanfei Li

  2. College of Veterinary Medicine, Northeast Agricultural University, 600, Changjiang Road, Harbin, 150030, NO, China

    Jian Zhang, Wanyue Huang, Zheng Cao & Yanfei Li

  3. Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, China

    Feibo Xu

  4. Liaoning Agricultural College, Yingkou, 115009, China

    Fubo Jia

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  1. Jian Zhang
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Zhang, J., Huang, W., Xu, F. et al. Iron Dyshomeostasis Participated in Rat Hippocampus Toxicity Caused by Aluminum Chloride. Biol Trace Elem Res 197, 580–590 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-019-02008-7

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