Kinetic study of zinc metabolism throughout the life cycle of the mouse

Thesis/Dissertation · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1987

OSTI ID:6291695

Reis, B L

Zinc metabolism changes significantly as physiological status varies throughout the life cycle. For example, aged mice lose more whole body zinc than young adult mice as evidenced by changes in the whole body biological half-life of /sup 65/Zn; 15.3 days and 20.0 days, respectively. As expected, a large proportion of whole body /sup 65/Zn accumulates in fetal tissues of pregnant dams resulting in a decreased turnover of whole body /sup 65/Zn. Despite this, the turnover of some tissues such as bone of pregnant dams appears to increase. Milk secretion represents a significant source of zinc loss, and a dramatic increase in whole body turnover of zinc for the mouse occurs during lactation. Maternal zinc loss is greatest during early lactation and decreases as lactation progresses. The concentration of milk zinc is higher during the first 2 days of lactation than at any other time and shows a longitudinal decrease as lactation progresses. Further, the biological half-life of /sup 65/Zn in early milk and the proportion of maternal whole body /sup 65/Zn secreted per unit volume of milk are greater than these parameters for late-milk and late-lactating dams.

• Research Organization: California Univ., Davis (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6291695
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

550300* -- Cytology
550501 -- Metabolism-- Tracer Techniques
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
AGE DEPENDENCE
ANIMALS
BIOLOGICAL HALF-LIFE
BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS
BODY FLUIDS
ELEMENTS
FOOD
ISOTOPE APPLICATIONS
LACTATION
LIFE CYCLE
MAMMALS
MATERIALS
METABOLISM
METALS
MICE
MILK
PREGNANCY
RODENTS
TRACER TECHNIQUES
VERTEBRATES
ZINC