American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 52, 173-177, Copyright © 1990 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc

ORIGINAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS

Zinc deprivation and zinc repletion: effect on the response of rats to infection with Strongyloides ratti

PK Fenwick, PJ Aggett, DC Macdonald, C Huber and D Wakelin
Department of Child Health, University of Aberdeen, Foresterhill, UK.

The course of a subcutaneous weight-related infection with Strongyloides ratti was followed in rats fed diets containing either 3 mg Zn/kg diet [zinc deficient (Zn-)] or 40 mg Zn/kg diet [zinc adequate (Zn+)]. At 19 d postinfection (dpi) the proportions of larvae persisting in the intestines as adult worms were 52 +/- 2% (means +/- SEM) for Zn-, 39.5 +/- 2.5% for pair-fed Zn- (Zn-PF), and 31.6 +/- 3.2% for Zn+ (p less than 0.001, analysis of variance); some Zn- rats were then transferred to the zinc-adequate diet [This was the zinc-repleted group (ZnR).] Both groups retained a group of pair-fed controls (Zn-PF and ZnRPF). Between 19 and 28 dpi ZnR animals gained weight faster than did Zn- animals and had heavier thymuses relative to body weight. Zinc deficiency enhances the establishment of S ratti larvae in the intestine of rats and alters the characteristics of intestinal expulsion of the nematodes; however, spontaneous cure was achieved by 38 dpi in both Zn- and control groups.

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