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Intestinal cellular proliferation and protein synthesis in zinc-deficient rats
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 July 2007
Abstract
1. Immature male Wistar rats were given a low-zinc semi-synthetic diet (2 mg Zn/kg) for 28 d. Control groups received a similar diet supplemented with 58 mg Zn/kg either ad lib. or in amounts matched to the consumption of the Zn-deficient group. Rates of growth, food consumption and small intestinal length were significantly reduced in the Zn-depleted rats.
2. Zn deficiency in the rat was associated with a reduction in the ratio, crypt:villus and a lower rate of crypt cell division in the jejunum. This resulted in a substantial decrease in the net influx of new cells into the villi of the Zn-deficient animals compared with controls.
3. The fractional rates of protein synthesis in jejunal mucosa were measured by a technique based on the determination of L-[4-3H]phenylalanine incorporation. There was no evidence of a decline in the protein synthetic rate in total mucosa from Zn-deficient rats.
4. It is suggested that a reduction in cell influx into the villi may be responsible for the morphological and functional changes observed in the small intestine of rats fed on a low-Zn diet.
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- Papers on General Nutrition
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- Copyright © The Nutrition Society 1985
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