Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 April 2010
1. An experiment was conducted with goat kids to determine the effect of zinc injection on Zn binding in cytosols of several tissues of kids.
2. Following the Zn load, plasma Zn increased for 8 h then decreased. Zn injection significantly increased the Zn contents of the liver and kidney.
3. Injection of Zn into kids stimulated the production of Zn in a fraction with an apparent molecular weight of approximately 10000 in the cytosols of the liver, kidney and small intestinal mucosa. It is suggested that these fractions probably correspond to metallothioneins, Rumen papilla did not synthesize Zn-containing protein in response to an acute administration of Zn.
4. Zn injection significantly decreased the Cu content of the liver and affected the distribution of Cu in hepatic cytosol fraction, suggesting an interaction between these two elements.
5. The volume of bile collected in the gall bladder and its Zn content were markedly increased by Zn injection, suggesting that bile is one of the Zn excretion routes in kids.