de Amorim C S, Collares E F, Rossi M A, Zucoloto S, de Souza N M
Arq Gastroenterol. 1984 Oct-Dec;20(4):170-4.
Rats were maintained 4 weeks on a zinc deficient diet from the time of weaning. A control group received the same basic diet supplemented with zinc. Zinc deficiency, was indicated by poor weight gain, diarrhea, exudative vesicular dermatitis around ears, eyes, nose and extremities, and lowering of blood zinc levels. The morphometric study of the small intestine showed: 1) decreased thickness of the intestinal wall and of the mucosa; 2) significant decrease of the mean villies length and of the mean crypt depth; 3) no alterations in the height of the enterocytes from the middle one third of the villis and in the number of Paneth cells; 4) a decreased mitotic index; 5) a diminished number of epithelial cells living the ville, and 6) a decreased population of intraepithelial lymphocytes, both in the proximal jejunum and distal ileum. These findings are compatible with an impairment of cell replication in the small intestine in experimental zinc deficiency in rats, and allow us to speculate that the diarrhea usually seen in states of zinc malnutrition, at least in part, could be dependent on these changes.
从断奶时起，大鼠在缺锌饮食条件下饲养4周。对照组接受补充了锌的相同基础饮食。缺锌表现为体重增加缓慢、腹泻、耳朵、眼睛、鼻子和四肢周围出现渗出性水疱性皮炎以及血锌水平降低。小肠的形态计量学研究显示：1）肠壁和黏膜厚度降低；2）平均绒毛长度和平均隐窝深度显著降低；3）绒毛中三分之一处肠上皮细胞高度和潘氏细胞数量无变化；4）有丝分裂指数降低；5）离开绒毛的上皮细胞数量减少；6）空肠近端和回肠远端上皮内淋巴细胞数量减少。这些发现与实验性缺锌大鼠小肠细胞复制受损相符，并使我们推测，锌营养不良状态下常见的腹泻，至少部分可能取决于这些变化。
