The role of the pancreas in intestinal zinc secretion in metallothionein-null mice

The distribution and excretion of endogenous Zn, including the role of the pancreas, were examined in fasted MT+/+ and MT-/- mice. At 3 and 6 h after receiving Zn-65 tracer by subcutaneous injection, Zn-65 levels were compared in tissues of MT+/+ and MT-/- mice. Zn-65 levels were significantly higher in the liver and pancreas of the MT+/+ mice, whereas in the MT-/- mice, Zn-65 levels were significantly higher in muscle, skin, and most of the gastrointestinal tract other than the stomach and upper small intestine. In MT-/- mice, 3% of the injected Zn-65 was recovered in the luminal contents of the small intestine over 3-6 h, compared with <1.5% in the MT+/+ mice. A loading dose of Zn (150 mu g, s.c.) sufficient to raise the plasma Zn concentration by fourfold to fivefold in both MT+/+ and MT-/- mice resulted in similar increases in pancreatic Zn levels in each genotype, although more Zn appeared in the lower small intestine of MT-/- mice. Pancreatectomy decreased the level of Zn-65 in the small intestine of MT-/- but not MT+/+ mice. Longer-term studies over 4 days demonstrated few differences in tissue Zn-65 between MT+/+ and MT-/- mice, with the exception of the pancreas, where Zn-65 retention after fasting in MT-/- mice was half that of MT+/+ mice. MT-/- mice also had significantly lower Zn concentrations in the pancreas. Fecal excretion of Zn-65 in MT-/- mice was greater than that of MT+/+ mice in the first 24 h (24.7 vs. 18.2% of injected dose; p < 0.05). Besides metallothionein (MT), there were no significant differences in the molecular weight distribution of Zn binding ligands in the lumen of the small intestine between MT+/+ and MT-/- mice. Mice lacking MT I and II lose more endogenous Zn into the gut because of a relative failure of the pancreas to retain Zn. However, increased Zn secretion via the small intestinal mucosa may also contribute to intestinal Zn loss in MT-/- mice.