Abstract
Data on the zinc requirements of animals vary widely with the type of diet or kind of zinc compound considered, as they are dependent on the kind of definition and estimation of mineral requirements used which, in turn, are based on the analytical content of the mineral in the diet. Actually, requirements for a particular trace element are the same for any diet provided differences in the rate of absorption and metabolic availability of the element are taken into consideration. A suggestion is made in the present paper to utilize changes in the activity of different metallo-zinc enzymes as a method for determining the degree of metabolic availability of zinc. Within the framework of a repletion trial young male rats were fed a semisynthetic casein diet containing 1.2 ppm of zinc for a 14-day period of zinc depletion followed by a 15-day repletion period during which the rats received a diet containing 4.5 ppm or 12 ppm of zinc. In this trial the pattern of activity of the alkaline phosphatase in serum and in the femoral bones was studied and the level of pancreatic carboxypeptidase A and B was estimated. The data thus obtained were compared with those of pair-fed control animals and control animals fed a libitum. (96 ppm of dietary zinc). The results of the present trial show the metabolic availability of zinc can be determined by measuring the level of activity of these metallo-zinc enzymes. A suitable model was established. Moreover, attempts have been made to show in which way the zinc demands of growing, full-grown, pregnant and lactating animals may be estimated by measuring changes in the degree of activity of these metallo-zinc enzymes. A definition is, in this case, given by that amount of zinc which allows for an optimum activity of the different metallo-zinc enzymes. Such data are applicable only to a particular diet or are valid only for a particular zinc compound. Principally, it is much better to relate the Zn requirements of the animal to the level of absorbable and metabolically available zinc. The present model has been suggested to provide a possibility for measuring the metabolic availability of zinc in the body.
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