Abstract
Summary
Studies were undertaken to examine the effects of zinc on the repair of the wound in the epithelium. Biopsy specimens obtained from zinc-deficient rats showed a reduced uptake of 3H-thymidine when compared with controls, as shown by liquid scintillation and autoradiography. With wounding, proliferation as indicated by the labeling index increased about twice normal for zinc-supplemented rats, but 3.5 times for zinc-deficient rats. However, despite the increased proliferative rate, repair of wounds in deficient rats was always slower than in zinc-supplemented animals.
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