[Effect of zinc deficiency on glucose tolerance]

18 male rats (Sprague Dawley) were divided into 3 groups each receiving the following amounts of dietary zinc: 2 mg/kg in the depletion group and 100 mg/kg in both the ad libitum-fed control group and in the pair-fed control group. After 34 days of experiment the rats were fasted for 12 hrs and then received 50 mg of glucose per 60 g of body weight injected into the femoral muscle. With equal intial glucose concentrations Zn-depleted rats exhibited a significantly reduce glucose tolerance compared with that of the ad libitum-fed control animals. The reduced glucose tolerance in the Zn-deficient animals does, in this case, not arise as a result of the reduced food intake and the resulting weakened condition of the animals. This was shown by results obtained with the pair-fed animals exhibiting a significantly more stable glucose tolerance than the Zn-depleted rats, which was even more rigid than that of the ad libitum-fed controls.