Circulating thymic hormone levels in zinc deficiency

Iwata, Tadahisa; Incefy, Geneviève S.; Tanaka, Toshio; Fernandes, Gabriel; Menendez‐Botet, Celia J.; Pih, K.; Good, Robert A.

doi:10.1016/0008-8749(79)90318-6

Cited by 132 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…The presence of Zn at >2,000 ppm has indeed been demonstrated in two active lots of synthetic FTS, whereas two inactive batches showed <200 ppm of Zn. Zn also could be the metal present in natural FTS because it is present in large amounts in mammals (concentrations in human serum range between 0.082 and 0.158 mg/100 ml) and because Zn deprivation induces a thymic involution (13) associated with a decreased level of biologically active FTS (14,15). The direct proof of the presence of Zn in native FTS will be difficult to obtain because of the quantities of material necessary for the isolation of a sufficient amount of FTS to enable Zn detection.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The assay consists of detecting the lowest concentration ofserum that renders spleen rosette-forming cells sensitive to anti-theta serum or to azathioprine (2). In brief, the samples were incubated for 90 min at 37C with spleen cells from C57BL/6 mice, thymectomized [10][11][12][13][14][15] days before the test. Azathioprine (10 ,ug/ml) was added simultaneously with the sample.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Contribution of zinc and other metals to the biological activity of the serum thymic factor.

Dardenne¹,

Pleau²,

Nabarra³

et al. 1982

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

272

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The serum thymic factor (FTS) utilized in its synthetic or natural form loses its biological activity in a rosette assay after treatment with a metal ion-chelating agent, Chelex 100. This activity is restored by the addition of Zn salts and, to a lesser extent, certain other metal salts. FTS activation is secondary to the binding of the metal to the peptide. The metal-to-peptide molar ratio of 1:1 provides the best activation. These data indicate the existence of two forms of FTS. The first one lacks Zn and is biologically inactive; the second one contains Zn and is biologically active, for which we propose the name of "thymulin" (FTS-Zn). The presence of Zn in synthetic FTS was confirmed by atomic absorption spectrometry. The interaction between Zn and FTS was fiurther suggested by microanalysis demonstrating the presence of this metal in thymic reticuloepithelial cells.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Contribution of zinc and other metals to the biological activity of the serum thymic factor.

Dardenne¹,

Pleau²,

Nabarra³

et al. 1982

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

272

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“…More recently, several investigators evoked the possibility that the epithelial function of the thymus may be specifically altered by this nutritional deficiency. They reported that a Zn2+ deficit induced a significant lowering of the serum level of thymic hormone, thymulin (previously called serum thymic factor, ITS), both in animal models such as mice and rats [5,61 and in patients with common variable immunodeficiency [7] or nephrotic syndrome with zinc deficiency [8]. Moreover, Zn administration restored normal hormone levels.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

In vivo and in vitro studies of thymulin in marginally zinc‐deficient mice

et al. 1984

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Thymulin (or serum thymic factor, FTS-Zn), a well-defined thymic hormone previously shown to be a nonapeptide binding the metal zinc, was studied in mice subjected to a long-term marginally Zn-deficient diet. In spite of the absence of thymic atrophy, we observed a significant decrease in the serum levels of thymulin as early as two months after the onset of treatment. However, these levels could be consistently restored after in vitro addition of ZnCl2. The analysis of thymuses from Zn-deficient mice showed that, despite the apparently normal network of epithelial cells, there was a progressive increase in the number of thymulin -containing cells (assessed by immunofluorescence with anti- thymulin monoclonal antibodies) that was already significant after two months of treatment. These results are in keeping with those of previous investigators, showing a specific, altered, thymic endocrine function following Zn deprivation. Nonetheless, our results strongly suggest that the nonactive Zn-deprived peptide is secreted under these experimental conditions. Furthermore, the fact that the augmented numbers of thymulin -containing cells were observed in the thymuses following a decrease in the peripheral thymulin (biologically active) brings further evidence for the existence of a feedback mechanism for the secretion of this hormone.

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“…Abnormalities of the lymphoid cell distribution in lymph node and spleen and deficiency of thymic hormone have recently been reported in association with zinc deficiency in mice (13,14). Prior immunologic studies have shown that zinc deficiency in mice interferes with their ability to produce antibody to sheep erythrocytes (SRBC) (15,16).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%