Moderate zinc deficiency in rats enhances lipoprotein oxidation in vitro.

Zinc inhibits low density lipoprotein oxidation in vitro. This observation and others provide indirect evidence that Zn affects radical-mediated processes. This study demonstrated that moderate Zn deficiency in rats produced very low and low density lipoproteins with abnormally high sensitivity to copper-catalyzed oxidation in vitro (short lag time, high propagation rate). The amount of Zn in the oxidation assay did not appear to contribute to the results. Because lipoprotein oxidation in vitro seems to reflect certain oxidative processes in vivo, this study strengthened the contention that Zn affects radical-mediated damage in vivo.