title: Perinatal hypothyroidism decreases hippocampal mossy fiber zinc density in rats.
abstract: The effect of perinatal hypothyroidism on hippocampal mossy fiber zinc density was examined in rats. Timed pregnant Sprague-Dawley rat dams were given water containing either 0.02% propylthiouracil (PTU) or vehicle from gestational day 18 until their litters were weaned on postnatal day 31. Hippocampal mossy fiber zinc density was reduced by 75% in both the dorsal and ventral hippocampal formation CA3 stratum lucidum region of 31-day-old PTU-treated rats compared to untreated controls. Perinatal hypothyroidism did not alter hippocampal tissue zinc concentration, indicating that the PTU-induced reduction in mossy fiber zinc was not a consequence of reduced hippocampal zinc concentration. At 120 days of age, 3 months after discontinuation of PTU treatment, hippocampal mossy fiber zinc density remained significantly reduced by 33-45% in PTU-treated rats compared to control. These data indicate that perinatal hypothyroidism causes a long-lasting reduction in hippocampal mossy fiber zinc density.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque 87131-5316.
authors.forename: D D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Savage
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Otero
authors.forename: C Y
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Montano
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Razani-Boroujerdi
authors.forename: L L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Paxton
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Kasarskis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D006652:Histological Techniques; D007037:Hypothyroidism / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic; D015032:Zinc / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D015032:Zinc