Zinc and Copper in Rat Bile and Pancreatic Fluid

Zinc and Copper in Rat Bile and Pancreatic Fluid: Effects of Surgery1 BARBARA O. SCHNEEMAN, BO LÖNNERDAL, CARL L. KEEN AND LUCILLE S. HURLEY

Department of Nutrition, University of California, Davis, CA 95616

INDEXING KEY WORDS zinc •copper trace elements •pancreatic trace elements

The control of zinc and copper homeostasis and the absorption and excretion of these elements by the gut is not well understood. It has been proposed that one component of thè homeostatic mechanism is the secretion in pancreatic juice and bile of low-molecularweight zinc- and copper-binding ligands which, according to this hypothesis, facilitate the transport of trace elements from the intestinal lumen into mucosal cells. In addition, secretion into the intestinal lumen of trace minerals associated with low- or high-molecular-weight ligands that may subsequently be either reabsorbed or excreted is also proposed since the trace minerals are potentially important regulators of homeostasis (1-5). Bile and pancreatic juice, as well as intestinal Secretions

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An earlier

•bile

•pancreatic

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report from our laboratories established that zinc associated with high-molecular-weight compounds (>30,000) is secreted in the pancreatic juice, whereas in bile, zinc is associated primarily with low-molecular-weight compounds (