Date of Award

6-2026

Degree Name

MS in Nutrition

Department/Program

Food Science and Nutrition

College

College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences

Advisor

Shannon Shoff

Advisor Department

Food Science and Nutrition

Advisor College

College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences

Abstract

Iron deficiency (ID) affects over 2 billion individuals globally. Children under 5 are at increased risk of ID due to rapid growth and are especially vulnerable to its negative consequences because of iron’s essential role in cognitive development and immune maturation. ID is the leading cause of iron deficiency anemia (IDA), with IDA affecting approximately 40% of children in this age group. Antibiotic (abx) exposure is also prevalent during early life and may disrupt growth and through gut dysbiosis, with increasing use posing additional risk in younger populations. Geographically, there is overlap in regions with high anemia prevalence and those with high abx exposure. While both ID/IDA and abx independently impair growth, metabolism, and physiological development, their combined effects remain poorly understood. This study aimed to evaluate weight gain and hematological outcomes using a translational piglet model.

A 2×2 factorial design was implemented with 40 Landrace × Yorkshire piglets assigned to one of four groups: control (CON-ABX), control with antibiotics (CON+ABX), iron-deficient (ID-ABX), and iron-deficient with antibiotics (ID+ABX). Piglets received differential iron shots at birth depending on their treatment groups, followed by iron-sufficient or iron-deficient diets post-weaning. A 3-day course of oral amoxicillin was administered during the post-weaning period. Growth was assessed through daily weight measurements, and iron status was evaluated using hematological parameters, including hemoglobin (Hgb), hematocrit (Hct), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), and mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH).

Body weight increased over time across all groups, with no significant differences observed between treatments. In contrast, hematological outcomes reflected ID in both ID-ABX and ID+ABX groups, with lower hemoglobin and hematocrit at weeks 2, 4 and 5. Additionally, MCV and MCH in these same groups were reduced at weeks 2-5, suggesting that these treatment groups were experiencing ID. Abx exposure alone did not significantly alter growth or hematological outcomes within the timeframe of this study.

These findings confirm that the reduced iron shots and iron deficient dietary treatment was successful in inducing ID within the assigned treatment groups. However, the short-term abx exposure did not exacerbate any of the growth or ID effects. Nevertheless, these results provide a strong foundation for future assessments of metabolic outcomes and microbial shifts from these same piglets. These findings all will contribute to the body of knowledge on combined impacts of nutrition deficiencies and pharmaceutical interventions in early-life, helping to improve global nutrition strategies for pediatric health.

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