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Dietary Zinc Supplementation to Prevent Chronic Copper Poisoning in Sheep.

Antonio Humberto Hamad MinervinoMarta López-AlonsoRaimundo Alves Barrêto JúniorFrederico Augusto Mazzocca Lopes RodriguesCarolina Akiko Sato Cabral AraújoRejane Santos SousaClara Satsuk MoriMarta MirandaFrancisco Leonardo Costa OliveiraAlexandre Coutinho AntonelliEnrico Lippi Ortolani
Published in: Animals : an open access journal from MDPI (2018)
The aim of this study was to evaluate whether zinc (Zn) supplementation protects against hepatic copper (Cu) accumulation in copper-loaded sheep. Forty cross-bred lambs were assigned to five experimental groups. These included the control group (C) and four treatment groups that received Cu and/or Zn supplementation (dry matter (DM) basis) over 14 weeks, as follows: Cu (450 mg Cu/kg); Zn-35 (450 mg Cu + 35 mg Zn/kg); Zn-150 (450 mg Cu + 150 mg Zn/kg); and Zn-300 (450 mg Cu + 300 mg Zn/kg). Blood, liver, and bile samples were obtained for mineral determination by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP⁻OES). The hepatic metallothionein (MT) concentrations were also determined. At the end of the experiment, hepatic Cu concentrations were higher in all Cu-supplemented groups than in C. Hepatic Cu accumulation was lower in the groups receiving the Zn supplementation than in the Cu group, although the difference was only statistically significant (66%) in the Zn-300 group. The MT concentrations tended to be higher (almost two-fold) in the Zn groups (but were not dose related) than in the C and Cu groups, and they were related to hepatic Zn concentrations. Zn supplementation at 300 mg/kg DM is useful for preventing excessive hepatic Cu accumulation in sheep exposed to high dietary concentrations of Cu.
Keyphrases
  • heavy metals
  • aqueous solution
  • metal organic framework
  • type diabetes
  • body mass index
  • risk assessment
  • high resolution
  • skeletal muscle
  • ms ms
  • molecularly imprinted
  • capillary electrophoresis