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Accumulation and Depletion of Zinc in Rat Liver and Kidney Metallothioneins^1,2,

Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331

The accumulation of zinc in liver and kidneys of rats fed various dietary levels of this element was investigated. Zinc started to accumulate in rat liver when 1,000 ppm or higher levels of this element were fed in the diet, but not when the dietary zinc level was 500 ppm or less. Almost all of the accumulated zinc in the soluble fraction was found to be present in the metallothionein (MT) fractions. When rats were fed a diet supplemented with 2,000 ppm zinc, the metal rapidly accumulated in MT in the liver and kidneys. The accumulated zinc was, however, depleted to the pre-supplementation level after only 3 days of feeding a zinc deficient diet. While the rats were fed the zinc deficient diet, in which the element was simultaneously depleted from MT, significant increased excretion of the metal occurred in the feces and urine. No evidence was found to indicate that zinc was excreted in the bile in association with MT. It was therefore concluded that MT is probably, as one of its possible biological roles, more involved in accumulation of excessive zinc rather than in storage of the metal for later utilization.

KEY WORDS: • metallothionein • zinc • rat liver and kidney

¹ Supported by National Institute of Health post-doctoral research fellowship No. 1 F22 ES 01656-01 (Chen) and in part by Public Health Service Research Grant No. ES 00529 from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Published with the approval of the Oregon State Agricultural Experiment Station as Technical Paper No. 4307.

² This is a third paper of a series on the Biological Function of Metallothionein. For I and II, see respectively ref. 9 and 14.

³ Present address: The Pillsbury Company, 608 2nd Avenue, South, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402.

⁴ Present address: University of Oregon Health Sciences Center, Cardiology Division, Portland, Oregon 97201.

Manuscript received 1 July 1976.