The cytotoxic effect of endotoxin on bone marrow cells in zinc deficient rats

The cytotoxic effect of bacterial lipopolisaccharide (LPS) on bone marrow cells was studied using normal and zinc deficient rats. LPS is known to release cytokines from macrophages such as TNF, IL-1, IL-6 and induce metallothionein (MT) in the liver, kidney, heart, etc. The bone marrow in zinc deficient rats with low MT levels was shown to be highly injured by 2 mg/kg LPS administration, indicating a significant decrease of bone marrow cells and an increase of adipocytes. No significant injury was observed in the rats fed with normal diet by the same dose of LPS administration. Low zinc level or low MT induction in bone marrow cells was discussed with relation to the cytotoxic effect of LPS to those cells.