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Effect of Zinc Deficiency on Prostaglandin Synthesis in Different Organs of the Rat^1,2,

Department of Food and Nutrition, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011

Zinc has been implicated in regulation of some aspects of prostaglandin (PG) metabolism. Effects of zinc deficiency on PG synthesis and secretion were examined. Weanling rats were fed a control (adequate in zinc) or a zinc-deficient diet for 30 days. A third group was pair-fed to the zinc-deficient group with the control diet. The rats were anesthetized with ether, and tissues were excised for analysis. Zinc concentrations were measured in plasma, gut contents, gut mucosa, liver, lung and tibia. Prostaglandins F₂, E₁, E₂, thromboxane B₂ (TXB₂), 6-keto PGF₁ (metabolite of PGI₂, met I₂) and 13,14-dihydro-15-keto PGF₂ (met F₂) were measured by radioimmunoassay. The results indicate that, with the exception of gut contents, in most organs studied and for most PG measured, food restriction is as effective in reducing PG level as zinc deficiency. In the gut contents, however, there was a positive correlation between zinc and PGE₁ concentrations, and zinc deficiency decreased PGE₁, PGF₂ and PGI₂ metabolite levels beyond food restriction. The decrease in PG concentrations of gut contents without any change in their mucosal concentrations suggests an active process of PG secretion involving zinc. In addition, in serum from clotted blood, zinc deficiency increased the level of met F₂ (P < 0.05), suggesting that zinc might be involved in control of PG levels by changing PG degradation rate.

KEY WORDS: • zinc • prostaglandins • calorie deficiency • eicosanoids • thromboxane • aspirin

¹ Presented in part at the conference of the Fed. Am. Soc. Exp. Biol., Atlanta, GA, April 1981; Fed Proc. 40, 926.

² Journal Paper No. J-10373 of the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station, Ames, IA. Project No. 2438, a contributing project to North Central Regional Project NC-95. Supported in part by the Iowa State University Research Foundation.

³ Present address: Harvard Medical School, New England Regional Primate Research Center, 1 Pine Hill Drive, Southborough, MA 01772.

Manuscript received 18 September 1981.