Zinc (Zn) is an essential trace element and its deficiency is known to compromise a wide range of functions, including vascular function and immune function. The hypothesis of the thesis was that suboptimal Zn status would induce changes in the vascular system, thus raising the potential risk of developing atherosclerosis. After 2 wk, aorta was taken from male adult rats fed by either acute Zn deficient (AZD, <1mg Zn/kg), Zn adequate Pair fed of AZD (PF, 35mg Zn/kg), or Zn adequate control (ZA, 35mg Zn/kg, fed ad libitum) diet. It was found most genes which were significantly regulated between AZD and PF aorta belong to cytoskeleton remodelling. Plasma from the same rats was used to incubate primary VSMC in vitro. Dramatic changes of gene expression in pathways associated with immune function. While AZD plasma induced marked changes in VSMC gene expression in vitro, no significant change was found by depleting Zn from PF plasma. Therefore it is possible that a Zn deficiency induced humoral factor was responsible for influencing VSMC gene expression. By semi-purifying plasma using gel filtration and molecular filtration, it was confirmed that the humoral factor has a molecular weight of around 2kDa and is thought to be a peptide hormone, which could serve as a potential biomarker of Zn status. Splenocytes and whole blood were taken from rats and used to measure cytokine secretion before and after either LPS or ConA treatment. Different concentrations of several cytokines, such as IL2, IL6, TNFα and IFNγ were found from different Zn status. Overall the thesis emphasises the participation of Zn in several aspects of the vascular system, such as regulating cytokine production and maintaining vascular structure. It provides important evidence of the role that Zn plays in the development of atherosclerosis.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:582715 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Ou, Ou |
| Publisher | University of Aberdeen |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=201967 |
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