Influence of low dietary lipid content on anorexia and [14C]glucose uptake in the intestine of zinc-deficient mice.

Zinc deficiency was induced in adult male mice by feeding them for 8 weeks on a purified semi-synthetic Zn-deficient diet (ZD) containing 90 g lipid/kg (60 g maize oil plus 30 g cod-liver oil). One group was then fed on a low-lipid Zn-deficient diet (ZDLR) containing 30 g cod-liver oil/kg as the sole lipid source for a further 8 weeks. At the end of the experiment the stomach clearance rate, daily food intake, body-weight gain and [14C]glucose uptake in the intestine were significantly higher in group ZDLR than in mice that continued eating the Zn-deficient lipid-adequate diet ZD, and were comparable to results for a group given a Zn-supplemented diet. These results suggest that the pathogenesis of anorexia, nutrient malabsorption and growth retardation are secondary to lipid malabsorption resulting from Zn deficiency.