Iron deficiency and iron excess damage mitochondria and mitochondrial DNA in rats

Iron deficiency and iron excess damage mitochondria and mitochondrial DNA in rats Patrick B. Walter*, Mitchell D. Knutson†, Andres Paler-Martinez*, Sonia Lee*, Yu Xu*, Fernando E. Viteri†, and Bruce N. Ames*‡ Departments of *Molecular and Cell Biology, and †Nutritional Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 Contributed by Bruce N. Ames, December 28, 2001

Approximately two billion people, mainly women and children, are iron deficient. Two studies examined the effects of iron deficiency and supplementation on rats. In study 1, mitochondrial functional parameters and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) damage were assayed in iron-deficient (