Psychological stress induced zinc accumulation and up-regulation of ZIP14 and metallothionein in rat liver

Abstract

BackgroundZinc is necessary for normal liver function; and vice versa, the liver plays a central role in zinc homeostasis. The aim of present study is to assess the effects of repeated psychological stress (PS) on the zinc metabolism and related mechanism involved in zinc homeostasis in rat liver.MethodsIn present study, we used communication box to create PS model and investigated the serum corticosterone (CORT), zinc level in serum and liver, liver metallothionein (MT) content and ZRT/IRT-like Protein 14 (ZIP14) mRNA expression.ResultsThe results showed that the serum CORT level increased and serum zinc level decreased significantly after 7 d and 14 d PS treatment. Meanwhile, zinc and MT contents in liver were elevated after 14 d PS exposure, while those in 7 d PS exposure group did not change. ZIP14 mRNA was expressed markedly at 7 d after the onset of PS, while Zip14 mRNA expression in the liver after 14 d PS exposure reached normal level compared with control group.ConclusionsThe results suggest that PS exposure could induce hypozincemia, which might be related to liver zinc accumulation because of high level of MT through glucocorticoid-mediated MT synthesis and ZIP14 expression induced by interleukin-6.

Dexamethasone impacts zinc levels in goats by regulating zinc transportation in the colon and the metabolism in the liver

“…Expression of zinc transport genes including Zip‐1 , Zip‐14 , and Znt‐1 , was significantly increased following Dex treatment, which was consistent with the results of Tian et al. (Tian et al., ). However, protein expression of ZIP‐14 and DMT‐1, which are known to be involved in the cellular uptake of zinc, was not changed (Hill & Link, ; Kambe et al., ).…”

“…Hepatic zinc levels were significantly decreased after Dex administration, which contrasted with previous studies in rats (Tian et al., ), and the inconsistent results may be due to the species differences. Expression of zinc transport genes including Zip‐1 , Zip‐14 , and Znt‐1 , was significantly increased following Dex treatment, which was consistent with the results of Tian et al.…”

Effect of Zinc Sulfate and Zinc Glycine Chelate on Concentrations of Acute Phase Proteins in Chicken Serum and Liver Tissue

“…The birds were fed ad libitum with compound feeds appropriate for each period of rearing, i.e., starter (S) (days 1-21), grower (G) (days [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35], and finisher (F) (days 36-42) and had unlimited access to water. The starter mixture was provided to the chickens in crushed form, and the grower and finisher feeds were pelleted.…”

“…The development of local inflammation in the intestines may lead to a cytokine-dependent reduction in the serum. A decreased serum concentration of zinc is a defense mechanism against its utilization by pathogenic microbes and involves the penetration of zinc into the liver where zinc binds to metalloenzymes, whose functions include the production of new APPs [35]. Synthesis of the APPs in the liver and their release into the peripheral blood are also stimulated by local and systemic production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-1, IL-6, and TNF-α [23,36,37].…”

Chronic stress impacts the cardiovascular system: animal models and clinical outcomes

“…Significant increases in body temperature, elevations of plasma corticosterone (81,329), and prolongation of ethanol-induced sleeping time (328) have been reported following administration of this protocol. There are several reports about reductions of plasma zinc levels after the communication box-induced stress test (329,332). This is relevant to the strong association between human depressive disorders and the low plasma zinc levels (246,329).…”