Zinc concentration of liver and kidneys from rat pups nursing dams fed supplemented zinc dipicolinate or zinc acetate.

The zinc concentration of liver and kidneys was determined in rat pups nursing dams given 10 micrograms Zn/ml as either zinc dipicolinate or zinc acetate in water solution during the last week of gestation and for 5 days of lactation. Dams were fed a casein-based diet that contained 8.5 micrograms Zn/g and 2.0 micrograms pyridoxine-HCl/g during this period. The zinc concentrations of both liver and kidneys from the 5-day-old pups nursing dams fed the zinc dipicolinate solution were significantly greater than the zinc concentrations of these tissues from pups nursing dams given a solution of zinc acetate. The results demonstrate that a greater quantity of dietary zinc is transferred from the intestine of the lactating female rat to the pups when zinc is fed in the form of zinc dipicolinate.