Use of anemic piglet to assess bioavailability of iron from oral iron preparations

Abstract Except for methods using long‐lived iron isotopes, there are no reliable means for assessing the bioavailability of iron from oral preparations in human subjects. Use of the anemic piglet as an alternative means was studied. When piglets were made anemic on a commercial milk diet and then dosed with solutions of 1, 2 and 5 mg/kg of ferrous sulfate/day, a dose‐related recovery of hematocrit and hemoglobin levels resulted. The most sensitive dose range for use in a bioavailability study of iron was between 1 and 2 mg of iron/kg/day when using these parameters. A study carried out using this method indicated that the iron from a delayed‐release capsule and from a ferrous sulfate solution was equally bioavailable. Hemoglobin and hematocrit recovery rates of the anemic piglet were shown to be reliable and sensitive indicators of the bioavailability of iron from various iron dosage forms.