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Effect of Zinc Deficiency and Restricted Feeding on Protein and Ribonucleic Acid Metabolism of Rat Brain¹

Division of Nutrition, Food and Drug Administration, Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Washington, D. C. 20204

Male weanling rats fed an egg albumin diet deficient in zinc (0.2 ppm Zn) for 3 weeks gained very little weight. During a 6-hour period following intraperitoneal injection of ⁶⁵Zn, the brains of the zinc-deficient animals took up a larger percentage of the injected dose than did the brains of animals fed the zinc-supplemented diet (75 ppm Zn) either ad libitum, or restricted to allow a weight gain comparable to the zinc-deficient rats. The in vivo incorporation of intracerebrally injected ¹⁴C-L-leucine and ³H-uridine into the trichloroacetic acid-precipitable protein and the ribonucleic acid (RNA), respectively, of brain was determined. Neither zinc deficiency nor restricted feeding affected the rate of incorporation of ³H-uridine into RNA of the brain. The relative specific activities of the proteins isolated from the zinc-deficient and restricted-fed animals were somewhat similar, and were lower than those from the zinc-supplemented rats fed ad libitum.

² Present address: Nutrition Program, Division of Chronic Disease Program, Regional Medical Program Service, Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Public Health Service, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, Maryland 20014.

Manuscript received 3 December 1969.