Abstract
Zinc homeostasis in the brain is affected by dietary zinc deficiency, and its alteration may cause brain dysfunctions. On the basis of the previous evidence that hippocampal zinc was responsive to 12‐week zinc deprivation, responsiveness of hippocampal zinc to dietary zinc deficiency was examined in rats fed a zinc‐deficient diet for 4 weeks. Zinc concentration in the hippocampus was not decreased by zinc deprivation for 4 weeks. However, Timm's stain was extensively attenuated in the brain of the zinc‐deficient rats. In the brain of the zinc‐deficient rats, moreover, zinc concentration in the hippocampal extracellular fluid was approximately 30% of that of control rats. These results demonstrate that vesicular zinc is responsive to dietary zinc and may decrease easily under zinc deficiency. Zinc concentration in the hippocampal extracellular fluid during stimulation with high K^+^ was significantly increased even in zinc‐deficient rats, although the increased levels of zinc were lower than the basal levels of zinc in control rats. The basal glutamate concentration in the hippocampal extracellular fluid was not significantly different between the control and zinc‐deficient rats. However, glutamate concentration in the hippocampal extracellular fluid during stimulation with high K^+^ was more increased in the zinc‐deficient rats than in the control rats. Gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) concentration in the hippocampal extracellular fluid during stimulation with high K^+^ was increased in the control rats, but not in the zinc‐deficient rats. The present study suggests that the excitability of hippocampal glutamatergic neurons is enhanced by dietary zinc deficiency. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.