13 research outputs found
Protective effect of zinc on altered "in vitro" thymulin production induced by inorganic mercury in young and old mice thymuses.
Effect of dietary supplementation with zinc sulphate on the aging process: a study using high field intensity-MRI and chemical shift imaging
High field intensity magnetic resonance imaging (HF-MRI) has been applied to the
in vivo study of age-related processes of organs located in the cervical-thoracic
region in mice and to describe the effects of oral zinc supplementation on these
processes. Spin-echo (SE) pulse sequence and chemical shift imaging (CSI)
techniques have been used. Aging produced a progressive reduction of muscular
masses and of thymic area, whereas the HF-MRI appearances of spinal cord and of
salivary glands were unchanged. In some aged animals, subcutaneous fat was
reduced while visceral fat was well developed. In the group of old animals
supplemented with zinc sulphate, muscular masses were more developed than that of
the group of untreated old animals. Oral zinc supplementation also produced an
enlargement of the adipose tissue and the thymic area showed an increase of about
65% compared with thymic area measured in the group of old animals used as
controls. The present study confirms previous data about the effects of Zn
supplementation on aging processes and demonstrates that HF-MRI is a powerful
technique to study processes of aging, providing information about the effects of
drug treatments on these processes