THE IN-VITRO UPTAKE OF ZINC BY BLOOD-CELLS IN RATS WITH LONG-TERM INFLAMMATORY STRESS

The aim of the present study was to investigate the in vitro uptake of zinc by blood cells, in an attempt to distinguish between those condi tions in which low plasma zinc concentrations are due to inflammatory stress, and those which are due to true zinc deficiency. Inflammation induced by intramuscular injection of turpentine caused a significant reduction in plasma albumin concentrations, which persisted until the end of the study (2 weeks). It also caused a reduction in the plasma z inc concentration which was most marked during the first few days. A s maller difference persisted until the end of the study. When the serum zinc concentration was corrected for the hypoalbuminaemia, the change s in serum zinc concentration after the first 4 days of turpentine wer e small and mainly non-significant. The in vitro uptake of zinc by ery throcytes obtained from animals with inflammation did not increase, wh ereas the uptake was increased in cells obtained from animals with tru e zinc deficiency. Therefore this study suggests a method that can pro bably differentiate between an apparent zinc deficiency due to inflamm atory stress and a real zinc deficiency, but additional experiments to validate this method should be performed.