Potential application of pig (Sus scrofa domestica) skin peptide-iron chelates in the treatment of iron deficiency anemia and regulation of intestinal flora metabolism

Iron deficiency is an important public health concern worldwide. Intake of iron-fortified foods has been widely used to treat iron deficiency anemia (IDA). In this study, a novel food for iron supplementation was designed: pig (Sus scrofa domestica) skin peptide-iron (PSP-Fe) chelates. Structural ch...

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Main Authors: Shuteng Huang, Hanxiu Deng, Kexin Liang, Xue Zhao, Jiayu Zhang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-06-01
Series:Frontiers in Nutrition
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2025.1553668/full
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author Shuteng Huang
Shuteng Huang
Hanxiu Deng
Hanxiu Deng
Kexin Liang
Kexin Liang
Xue Zhao
Xue Zhao
Jiayu Zhang
Jiayu Zhang
author_facet Shuteng Huang
Shuteng Huang
Hanxiu Deng
Hanxiu Deng
Kexin Liang
Kexin Liang
Xue Zhao
Xue Zhao
Jiayu Zhang
Jiayu Zhang
author_sort Shuteng Huang
collection DOAJ
description Iron deficiency is an important public health concern worldwide. Intake of iron-fortified foods has been widely used to treat iron deficiency anemia (IDA). In this study, a novel food for iron supplementation was designed: pig (Sus scrofa domestica) skin peptide-iron (PSP-Fe) chelates. Structural characterization demonstrated that acidic amino acids (aspartic acid, glutamic acid) and aromatic amino acids (phenylalanine, tryptophan, and tyrosine) in PSP were involved in the chelation reaction, with the carboxyl group and amino group provided the major iron binding sites. In addition, iron significantly altered the microscopic morphology of PSP. IDA rats were established and different doses of iron supplements were gavaged for 21 days to evaluate the effectiveness of PSP in treating IDA. The medium dose of PSP-Fe restored hemoglobin (HGB), red blood cell (RBC), hematocrit (HCT), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), serum ferritin (SF), serum iron (SI), hepcidin, total iron binding capacity (TIBC) and transferrin saturation (TSAT) to normal levels. PSP-Fe also ameliorated the abnormal changes in heart coefficients, lungs coefficients, liver coefficients and spleen coefficients caused by IDA. PSP-Fe further restored iron storage in the liver and villous damage in the colon of rats compared to FeSO4. 16S rRNA results suggest that the 10 microbial markers in the Model group may impede iron absorption and HGB synthesis of host through biosynthesis of siderophore group nonribosomal peptides, vitamin B6 metabolism, lipoic acid metabolism, ascorbate metabolism and tryptophan metabolism. At the end, the safety of PSP-Fe was preliminarily affirmed by toxicity evaluation in vitro and in vivo. These findings suggest that PSP-Fe has potential as a novel functional food for treating IDA.
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publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
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series Frontiers in Nutrition
spelling doaj-art-eb74fa6b88d046218f2e46af075cede82025-08-20T02:31:15ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Nutrition2296-861X2025-06-011210.3389/fnut.2025.15536681553668Potential application of pig (Sus scrofa domestica) skin peptide-iron chelates in the treatment of iron deficiency anemia and regulation of intestinal flora metabolismShuteng Huang0Shuteng Huang1Hanxiu Deng2Hanxiu Deng3Kexin Liang4Kexin Liang5Xue Zhao6Xue Zhao7Jiayu Zhang8Jiayu Zhang9School of Pharmacy, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, ChinaYantai Marine Key Laboratory, Yantai, ChinaSchool of Pharmacy, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, ChinaYantai Marine Key Laboratory, Yantai, ChinaYantai Marine Key Laboratory, Yantai, ChinaSchool of Pharmacy, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, ChinaYantai Marine Key Laboratory, Yantai, ChinaSchool of Pharmacy, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, ChinaSchool of Pharmacy, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, ChinaYantai Marine Key Laboratory, Yantai, ChinaIron deficiency is an important public health concern worldwide. Intake of iron-fortified foods has been widely used to treat iron deficiency anemia (IDA). In this study, a novel food for iron supplementation was designed: pig (Sus scrofa domestica) skin peptide-iron (PSP-Fe) chelates. Structural characterization demonstrated that acidic amino acids (aspartic acid, glutamic acid) and aromatic amino acids (phenylalanine, tryptophan, and tyrosine) in PSP were involved in the chelation reaction, with the carboxyl group and amino group provided the major iron binding sites. In addition, iron significantly altered the microscopic morphology of PSP. IDA rats were established and different doses of iron supplements were gavaged for 21 days to evaluate the effectiveness of PSP in treating IDA. The medium dose of PSP-Fe restored hemoglobin (HGB), red blood cell (RBC), hematocrit (HCT), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), serum ferritin (SF), serum iron (SI), hepcidin, total iron binding capacity (TIBC) and transferrin saturation (TSAT) to normal levels. PSP-Fe also ameliorated the abnormal changes in heart coefficients, lungs coefficients, liver coefficients and spleen coefficients caused by IDA. PSP-Fe further restored iron storage in the liver and villous damage in the colon of rats compared to FeSO4. 16S rRNA results suggest that the 10 microbial markers in the Model group may impede iron absorption and HGB synthesis of host through biosynthesis of siderophore group nonribosomal peptides, vitamin B6 metabolism, lipoic acid metabolism, ascorbate metabolism and tryptophan metabolism. At the end, the safety of PSP-Fe was preliminarily affirmed by toxicity evaluation in vitro and in vivo. These findings suggest that PSP-Fe has potential as a novel functional food for treating IDA.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2025.1553668/fullpig (Sus scrofa domestica) skiniron deficiency anemiapeptide-iron chelatesiron supplementationgut microbiota
spellingShingle Shuteng Huang
Shuteng Huang
Hanxiu Deng
Hanxiu Deng
Kexin Liang
Kexin Liang
Xue Zhao
Xue Zhao
Jiayu Zhang
Jiayu Zhang
Potential application of pig (Sus scrofa domestica) skin peptide-iron chelates in the treatment of iron deficiency anemia and regulation of intestinal flora metabolism
Frontiers in Nutrition
pig (Sus scrofa domestica) skin
iron deficiency anemia
peptide-iron chelates
iron supplementation
gut microbiota
title Potential application of pig (Sus scrofa domestica) skin peptide-iron chelates in the treatment of iron deficiency anemia and regulation of intestinal flora metabolism
title_full Potential application of pig (Sus scrofa domestica) skin peptide-iron chelates in the treatment of iron deficiency anemia and regulation of intestinal flora metabolism
title_fullStr Potential application of pig (Sus scrofa domestica) skin peptide-iron chelates in the treatment of iron deficiency anemia and regulation of intestinal flora metabolism
title_full_unstemmed Potential application of pig (Sus scrofa domestica) skin peptide-iron chelates in the treatment of iron deficiency anemia and regulation of intestinal flora metabolism
title_short Potential application of pig (Sus scrofa domestica) skin peptide-iron chelates in the treatment of iron deficiency anemia and regulation of intestinal flora metabolism
title_sort potential application of pig sus scrofa domestica skin peptide iron chelates in the treatment of iron deficiency anemia and regulation of intestinal flora metabolism
topic pig (Sus scrofa domestica) skin
iron deficiency anemia
peptide-iron chelates
iron supplementation
gut microbiota
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2025.1553668/full
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