Long-term marginal zinc deprivation in rhesus monkeys. IV. Effects on skeletal growth and mineralization.

Skeletal maturation was evaluated from ages 1 to 3 y in rhesus monkeys that had been subjected to a diet marginally deficient in zinc (4 micrograms/g Zn) from conception through age 3 y. Skeletal development was assessed at 18, 24, 30, and 36 mo of age and compared with that of controls fed ad libitum. Skeletal maturation was determined by the presence of epiphyseal ossification centers. To evaluate endochondral bone mineralization the appearance of the zone of provisional calcification on the metaphyseal side of the growth plate and the width of the growth plate were observed. Marginal Zn deprivation was associated with delayed skeletal maturation in monkeys up to age 3 y. Defective mineralization of bone was evident in these monkeys up to age 6 mo. Between ages 6 mo and 3 y bone mineralization increased in some of the marginal-Zn monkeys to values that were only slightly below those for control monkeys.