The Effect of Ferric Chloride on the Utilization of Calcium and Phosphorus in the Animal Body

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Abstract
A comparison of the amounts of total ash, calcium, and phosphorus in the bodies of animals on an unsupplemented diet with the amounts in bodies of animals on a diet supplemented with enough ferric chloride to combine with one-half the phosphorus of the diet was made, and it was shown that the addition of ferric chloride resulted in a considerable reduction in the amounts of total ash, calcium, and phosphorus at the end of 30 days. Similar experiments with like results have been reported in the literature, but in no other study has the food intake of the two groups of animals been equalized so that mineral intake of both groups was the same. In the present investigation the food intake of all animals has been kept approximately the same. In spite of this equalized food intake, animals on the unsupplemented diet gained more weight, and had larger amounts of calcium, phosphorus, and total ash deposited in their bodies at the end of the experimental period than animals with the ferric chloride supplement. Although the analysis of each animal was carried out separately, discussion of results was based on group averages. Sex differences were not considered to be of such magnitude as to warrant separate discussion. Comparisons were made of percentage and total calcium, phosphorus, and ash in the bodies of both groups of animals. It has been pointed out that differences in net body weight of animals in the two groups tend to minimize the detrimental effect of ferric chloride on calcium and phosphorus metabolism, when expressed in percentage of body weight. Because of controlled food intake, it was thought that differences in total ash, calcium, and phosphorus represent a truer picture than percentage differences in arriving at a conclusion as to the effect of iron on calcium and phosphorus metabolism. Results of this experiment indicate that ferric chloride has a detrimental effect on calcium and phosphorus metabolism. When the amount of cod liver oil in the diet was reduced by 50% the addition of ferric chloride resulted in a less drastic lowering of body calcium and phosphorus.
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