QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Beach, R. S. Articles by Hurley, L. S. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Beach, R. S. Articles by Hurley, L. S.

Growth and Development in Postnatally Zinc-Deprived Mice¹

Richard S. Beach^,*,, M. Eric Gershwin^*,2 and Lucille S. Hurley

Department of Nutrition ^* Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Rheumatology-Immunology, School of Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA 95616

The influence of postnatal zinc deprivation upon the growth and development of outbred mice was investigated by feeding groups of animals, during the suckling period, one of four diets: 100 ppm zinc (control); 9 ppm zinc (marginal deficiency); 5 ppm zinc (moderate deficiency), and 2.5 ppm zinc (severe deficiency). In addition to control for inanition caused by zinc deprivation, a group of mice were fed the control diet but in amounts equal by weight to the measured intake of the moderately deprived animals (5 ppm zinc). A variety of developmental anomalies was observed in the zinc-deprived animals, including alopecia, extensive dermatitis, delayed opening of eyes and incoordination. Furthermore, growth in body weight and length were reduced. Similarly, on the basis of absolute net weight, heart, kidney and liver all demonstrated a significant stunting, and there was a direct relationship between the magnitude of organ growth retardation and the degree of zinc deprivation. However, when examined on a relative basis as a percentage of total body weight, only liver growth was significantly retarded. The heart and, most notably, the kidney represented an even greater proportion of body weight in the zinc-deprived mice than in the controls. We conclude that, in the mouse, the heart and kidney were affected to a lesser extent by zinc deficiency than was the whole animal. This observation is in contrast to the extreme lack of growth, both absolute and relative, of the spleen and especially the thymus, previously described by us in mice deficient in zinc during the suckling period.

KEY WORDS: • zinc • lymphoid involution • birth defects • mice

¹ Supported by NIH Grants CA-20816. CA-24362. CP-65845, HD-01743, and the Elsa U. Pardee Foundation.

² Reciplent of the Research Career Development Award AI 00193. Reprint requests to M.E.G.

Manuscript received 7 May 1979.