Pre-Conception and Early Pregnancy Iron Deficiency Harms Brain

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110322151416.htm

ScienceDaily (Mar. 23, 2011) — A mother's iron deficiency early in pregnancy may have a profound and long-lasting effect on the brain development of the child, even if the lack of iron is not enough to cause severe anemia, according to a University of Rochester Medical Center study published in the scientific journal PLoS One.

The results are important because obstetricians might not notice or treat mild or moderate iron deficiency, and therefore the study authors believe their research underscores the need for monitoring a pregnant woman's iron status beyond anemia.

Low iron is so common that an estimated 35 percent to 58 percent of all healthy women show some degree of deficiency. And among women of childbearing age, one in five has iron-deficient anemia, a more serious condition, according to the National Institutes of Health.

It is well established that iron-deficient babies develop more slowly and show brain abnormalities such as slow language learning and behavioral problems. But until now investigators did not know the degree to which iron deficiency in pregnancy is associated with these impairments, and when during gestation the deficiency has the most impact on the central nervous system.

----- (skipping)

The most surprising aspect of the research, Mayer-Proschel said, was that the timing of the iron deficiency was much more important than the degree of deficiency. This observation also seems to argue against the common notion that the placenta can minimize the impact of the mother's deficiency on the baby.

"We refer to this as the window of vulnerability," she said, "and it seems to be at a very early stage of development." In previous studies of the cellular targets of iron deficiency, Mayer-Proschel found that lack of iron sets off an imbalance of neural precursor cells, which might ultimately be responsible for the defects sometimes experienced by children up to age two.

..