Dardenne M, Savino W, Wade S, Kaiserlian D, Lemonnier D, Bach J F
Eur J Immunol. 1984 May;14(5):454-8. doi: 10.1002/eji.1830140513.
Thymulin (or serum thymic factor, FTS-Zn), a well-defined thymic hormone previously shown to be a nonapeptide binding the metal zinc, was studied in mice subjected to a long-term marginally Zn-deficient diet. In spite of the absence of thymic atrophy, we observed a significant decrease in the serum levels of thymulin as early as two months after the onset of treatment. However, these levels could be consistently restored after in vitro addition of ZnCl2. The analysis of thymuses from Zn-deficient mice showed that, despite the apparently normal network of epithelial cells, there was a progressive increase in the number of thymulin -containing cells (assessed by immunofluorescence with anti- thymulin monoclonal antibodies) that was already significant after two months of treatment. These results are in keeping with those of previous investigators, showing a specific, altered, thymic endocrine function following Zn deprivation. Nonetheless, our results strongly suggest that the nonactive Zn-deprived peptide is secreted under these experimental conditions. Furthermore, the fact that the augmented numbers of thymulin -containing cells were observed in the thymuses following a decrease in the peripheral thymulin (biologically active) brings further evidence for the existence of a feedback mechanism for the secretion of this hormone.
胸腺素（或血清胸腺因子，FTS-Zn）是一种明确的胸腺激素，先前已证明它是一种结合金属锌的九肽，我们对长期食用轻度缺锌饮食的小鼠进行了研究。尽管没有胸腺萎缩，但早在治疗开始两个月后，我们就观察到胸腺素的血清水平显著下降。然而，在体外添加氯化锌后，这些水平可以持续恢复。对缺锌小鼠胸腺的分析表明，尽管上皮细胞网络表面上正常，但含胸腺素的细胞数量（通过抗胸腺素单克隆抗体免疫荧光评估）逐渐增加，在治疗两个月后就已很显著。这些结果与先前研究者的结果一致，表明锌缺乏后胸腺内分泌功能发生了特定的改变。尽管如此，我们的结果强烈表明，在这些实验条件下会分泌无活性的缺锌肽。此外，在外周胸腺素（生物活性）降低后，胸腺中观察到含胸腺素细胞数量增加，这进一步证明了这种激素分泌存在反馈机制。
