ABSTRACT
Zinc deficient rats were injected subcutaneously each day for 3 weeks with 250 ?l evening primrose oil (EPO, containing 10% Y-linolenic acid and 73% linoleic acid) or safflower oil (SFO, containing 77% linoleic acid only) and compared with zinc supplemented group (ZnS) and zinc deficient group (ZnD) without injections. At the end of the experiment, rats were killed under anaesthesia, organ weights, zinc content of kidneys, blood cholesterol and fatty acid compositions were determined. The results showed animals in EPO group had the best recoveries both in deficient symptoms and in body weights,the zinc content of kidneys was the highest, the serum cholesterol level was significantly lower than those of SFO and ZnD groups, but no difference from ZnS group. The total percentage of 22-C and above(?-6)polyunsatured fatty acids was the highest among those four groups. These results indicated that?-linolenic acid was beneficial to zinc deficient rats in growth, zinc utilization and the metabolism of essential fatty acids.