Concentration and subcellular localization of zinc in the hippocampal formation, cerebellum, and whole brain during the postnatal development of the rat.

Zinc was determined by means of atomic absorption techniques in the hippocampal formation, the cerebellum, the whole brain, and their subcellular fractions during the postnatal development of rats. Large quantities of zinc were found already in newborn animals. In the whole brain, the zinc amounts increased between the birth and the 15th day of age, whereas in the hippocampal formation and cerebellum the zinc concentration did not change remarkably during the postnatal maturation. The zinc content of the subcellular fractions revealed a shift to the synaptosomes and mitochondria during the postnatal development. No significant difference of zinc amounts was shown between the CA3 and hilus fasciae dentatae region and the whole hippocampal formation. Concluding from the present results there are obvious discrepancies between the quantitative and histochemical data of the zinc distribution in the rat brain.