The LBH589 SCFA concentrations were determined using a GC 2010 gas chromatograph (Shimadzu Scientific Instruments Inc., Kyoto, Japan) equipped with a flame ionisation detector (FID). One gram of caecal content was thawed and suspended in 5 ml H2O and homogenised for about 3 min. After that, the pH was adjusted to 2–3 by adding 5 M HCl and the solution was kept at room temperature for 10 min with occasional shaking. The suspension was centrifuged (20 min; 3000 rpm) and 1 μl of the supernatant was injected onto a

Nukol-fused silica capillary column (30 m × 0.25-mm i.d., 0.25-μm film thickness; Supelco, Bellefonte, Palo Alto, CA, USA). The column temperature was held at 100 °C for 0.5 min, increased from 20 °C/min to 200 °C and finally held for 5 min. Hydrogen was used as the carrier gas at a flow rate of 1.8 ml/min, and the split ratio was 1:2. Injector and FID temperatures were 200 °C and 240 °C, respectively. Individual fatty acids were identified by comparison with the retention times of standards (Volatile Free Acid Mix, code. 46975; Sigma Chemical Co., St. Louis, MO, USA) and quantified using GC Real Time Analysis 1 software (GC

Solution version 2.30.00, LabSolutions, Shimadzu Scientific Instruments Inc., Kyoto, Japan). The data analysis was carried out with SPSS (SPSS Inc., Chicago, Illinois, USA) for Windows (version 11.5, 2002). All tests were PCI-32765 manufacturer performed assuming bilateral hypotheses and a 5% significance level. Initially, descriptive statistics were used to evaluate the mean and standard deviation (SD) of the studied variable. Data are shown as mean ± SD. In the depletion period, comparison of mean values between CON and ID groups was performed by using an unpaired t-test. In the repletion period, the variable means of the groups were compared by using analysis of variance (ANOVA). A Tukey’s post hoc test was applied to identify where significant differences occurred. A non-parametric Kolmogorov–Smirnov test was applied to verify

the normality of the observations and, when the normality hypothesis Reverse transcriptase was rejected, an unpaired t-test and ANOVA were substituted with non-parametric Mann–Whitney and Kruskal–Wallis tests, respectively. The observed power was 85–95% for most tests. A discrete to moderate microcytosis and marked hypochromia was observed in the ID rats when compared to those in the CON group (mean corpuscular volume of 64 ± 9.7 and 40.3 ± 6.3 fL; mean corpuscular Hb of 19.2 ± 3.2 and 11.8 ± 0.7 pg for CON and ID groups, respectively; P = 0.001) with significant reductions in Hb concentration and in the Hb Fe pool (P < 0.001; Table 2). These changes were the result of a marked reduction in the serum Fe levels and in transferrin saturation (P < 0.001) as well as in liver Fe stores (P < 0.001).