Zinc metabolism in acute renal failure in rats

ABSTRACT

Manifestatios of zinc deficiency include abnormal bone metabolism, skin lesion, testicular atrophy and impaired wound healing. Because these abnormalities are also common in uremia, zinc metabolism in renal insufficiency was studied in fifteen male Albino rats made acutely uremic by ureteral ligation. Ten sham operated rats served as controls. To evaluate the effect of acute uremia on zinc metabolism, plasma zinc in rats was measured 48 hours after ureteral ligation. In spite of low plasma zinc level, there was no tissue deficit of zinc in liver, muscles or testis. Decreased plasma zinc in renal failure may be due to distribution to other unexamined tissues as total body Zn depletion was excluded