The effect of gold on copper and zinc in kidney and in metallothionein.
The question as to the increase in copper and zinc contents in metallothionein in response to gold injection was examined. Each rat was injected intraperitoneally once with 0.9% NaCl or gold (5, 10 or 20 mg gold/kg b.w.). After gold injection, 60.1-68.4% of the renal copper content was found in the cytosol. Although the copper contents in cytosol and kidneys of gold-injected rats were higher than those of control rats, they did not increase in response to gold injection. Approx. 61.7-68.5% of the zinc contents in kidneys were detected in cytosol. The distribution profiles of the renal cytosols of gold-injected rats on a Sephadex G-75 column showed that the amount of the increased copper was attributable to the MT fraction. Although the copper content of MT of gold-injected rats were higher than those of control rats, they did not increase in response to gold injection. These results indicate that copper and zinc contents in metallothionein did not increase in response to gold injection.
Saito
S
S
Department of Environmental Medicine and Informatics, Graduate School of Environmental Earth Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
D000818:Animals; D003300:Copper / Q000378:metabolism*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D006046:Gold / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007668:Kidney / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008668:Metallothionein / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015032:Zinc / Q000378:metabolism*
D006046:Gold; D003300:Copper; D008668:Metallothionein; D015032:Zinc