Zinc deficiency-induced trace element concentration and localization changes in the central nervous system of albino...

The changes in the zinc and copper concentrations in the central nervous system (spinal cord, cerebellum, cerebrum, hippocampus, corpus striatum) of albino rat were studied by atomic absorption spectrophotometry in a state of zinc deficiency induced experimentally during the first 30 days of postnatal ontogenesis. It was found that in these structures the zinc deficiency is able to influence the changes and tendencies in the trace element content essentially only in an area undergoing intensive development in the given period, or which is sensitive to unsatisfactory dietary influences. The results lead to the assumption that the state of zinc deficiency is accompanied by a change in the distribution of the trace element content within the cells.