Effects of zinc deficiency on the brain development in rats

ＥｆｆｅｃｔｓｏｆｚｉｎｃｄｅｆｉｃｉｅｎｃｙｏｎｔｈｅｂｒａｉｎｄｅｖｅｌｏｐｍｅｎｔｉｎｒａｔｓＷｕＪｉａｈｕｉ（吴嘉惠）；ＲｅｎＲｏｎｇｎａ（任榕娜）；ＷｅｉＷｅｎ（魏文）；ＸｕＤｉｘｉｏｎｇ（徐迪雄）（ＤｅｐａｒｔｍｅｎｔｏｆＰｅｄｉａｔｒｉ...

Effects of zinc deficiency on the brain development in rats

The zinc effects on the learning and memory ability were investigated in the zinc-deficient(ZD)and pair-fed(PF) rats and it was found that(1 ) The rate of body weight gaining and the feed-efficiency ratio were significantly lower in ZD group than in PF group: (2) The total number of G_0/G_1 phase cells of the brain was significantly higher and that of the cells in S and G_2/M phases significantly lower in ZD group than in PF group ; (3) The cellular level of cAMP of the brain was significantly higher and that of nitrogen oxide lower in ZD group than in PF group: (4) The zinc level of the serum and hippocampus was significantly lower in ZD group than in PF group; (5) The zinc level in the whole brain showed no difference between the 2groups while the copper level was higher and iron level lower in ZD group than in PF group ; (6) The induction rate of the long-term potential of the hippocampal CA_1 area was zero and the latent period and the amplitude before and after stimulation showed no obvious change in ZD group while in PF group, the induction rate of the potential was 100%and shortening of the latent period and elevation of the amplitude of the PS peak were observed after stimulation; (7) Ultrastructural observation of the hippocampus revealed that the number of synaptic vesicles in the pyramidal cells of the hippocampus was decreased in ZD group : and (8)The incidence of active avoidance response accounted for 24 % only of the learning rate in ZD group which was obviously lower than 64% of PF group.