Chemical factors affecting the intestinal absorption of zinc in vitro and in vivo.

Everted sacs of rat duodenum and ileum were used to study the effect of anions and organic ligands on the absorption of zinc. The uptake per unit weight of tissue was greater in duodenum than ileum, and it was influenced by the Zn concentration and pH of the incubation medium. The Zn uptake from inorganic salts in simple buffered medium varied in the order zinc sulphate greater than zinc chloride greater than zinc phosphate. Zinc acetate was more effective and zinc citrate less effective than ZnCl2. Addition of aspartic acid or histidine to ZnCl2 increased the uptake but galactose or lactose decreased it. 2-Picolinic acid greatly increased the Zn uptake but 4-picolinic acid reduced it. When incubated with intestinal sacs after incorporation into a synthetic rat diet, only ZnSO4 and 2-picolinic acid increased Zn uptake compared with ZnCl2, but zinc citrate and 4-picolinic acid still tended to decrease it. Metabolic balance studies showed no significant differences in the faecal excretion, total excretion or retention of Zn between rats receiving diets containing different forms of Zn. ZnSO4, zinc citrate and particularly 2-picolinic acid increased the urinary excretion of Zn. The significance of these results is discussed in relation to the suitability of methods for investigating Zn absorption and the importance of Zn-binding ligands.