title: Decreased glutathione transferase activities in zinc-deficient rats.
abstract: Weanling rats fed a zinc-deficient diet for 56 days exhibit a decrease in the total activities of glutathione transferases with 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (CDNB) as substrate in the liver, esophagus and stomach. The level of acid-soluble sulfhydryl group, on the other hand, is decreased in the liver, but elevated in the esophagus and kidney. Deficient rats fed a zinc-replenished diet for just 7 days have a fully restored glutathione transferase activity in all tissues except the liver. In view of our earlier findings that the carcinogenic effects of nitrosamines are enhanced in zinc-deficient rats, the results that the dietary zinc deficiency reduces the activity of a 'chemical carcinogen-detoxifying enzyme system' are of more than routine interest.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004032:Diet; D004137:Dinitrochlorobenzene / Q000378:metabolism; D004947:Esophagus / Q000201:enzymology; D005982:Glutathione Transferase / Q000032:analysis*; D008658:Inactivation, Metabolic; D007527:Isoenzymes / Q000032:analysis; D007668:Kidney / Q000201:enzymology; D008099:Liver / Q000201:enzymology; D008297:Male; D009602:Nitrosamines / Q000633:toxicity; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013270:Stomach / Q000201:enzymology; D013379:Substrate Specificity; D013997:Time Factors; D015032:Zinc / Q000172:deficiency*
chemical_list: D004137:Dinitrochlorobenzene; D007527:Isoenzymes; D009602:Nitrosamines; D005982:Glutathione Transferase; D015032:Zinc