Effects of zinc-deficient diets on the cardiovascular system in rabbits
The authors used male New Zealand white rabbits to study the effects of zinc-deficient diets on the cardiovascular system. These 10 week-old rabbits were fed semi-purified diets containing either 50 ppm or less than 1 ppm zinc for 12 weeks. Serum samples were analyzed at 3,6,9 and 12 weeks. Body weight and food consumption were measured weekly. At necropsy the liver and heart were removed and weighed. Then the heart was perfused at 100 mm Hg with 10% buffered formalin via the ascending aorta. Coronary arteries were block-dissected and processed for light microscopy. Food consumption and body weights were not significantly altered throughout the study. Relative heart weights were not different; however, the relative liver weight of the zinc-deficient group was elevated by 11%. Neither total serum cholesterol or HDL-cholesterol were changed at any time. After 6 weeks treatment, serum zinc levels were depressed by 29% in the zinc-deficient group; no changes were observed for serum copper or calcium. Morphometric analysis of coronary arteries revealed a decreased combined thickness of the tunica intima and tunica media and a decreased area per unit length in the left coronary circumflex arteries of zinc-deficient rabbits. Significant changes reported here are probably related to possible alterations in lipoproteins metabolism and will be investigated in future studies.
- Research Organization:
- Oral Roberts Univ., Tulsa, OK
- OSTI ID:
- 6829236
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-8604222-
- Journal Information:
- Fed. Proc., Fed. Am. Soc. Exp. Biol.; (United States), Vol. 45:4; Conference: 70. annual meeting of the Federation of American Society for Experimental Biology, St. Louis, MO, USA, 13 Apr 1986
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES
PATHOGENESIS
CORONARIES
PATHOLOGICAL CHANGES
ZINC
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCY
CHOLESTEROL
DIET
HEART
LIVER
PERFUSED ORGANS
RABBITS
ANIMALS
ARTERIES
BLOOD VESSELS
BODY
CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
DISEASES
ELEMENTS
GLANDS
HYDROXY COMPOUNDS
MAMMALS
METALS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANS
STEROIDS
STEROLS
VERTEBRATES
560300* - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology