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Activity and distribution of acid phosphatase in zinc‐deficient parakeratotic rat buccal epithelium
Author(s) -
ALVARES O. F.,
MEYER J.,
GERSON S. J.
Publication year - 1973
Publication title -
european journal of oral sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.802
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1600-0722
pISSN - 0909-8836
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0722.1973.tb00352.x
Subject(s) - parakeratosis , epithelium , keratin , acid phosphatase , buccal administration , chemistry , weanling , alkaline phosphatase , zinc , biology , biochemistry , enzyme , medicine , endocrinology , anatomy , paleontology , bioinformatics , genetics , organic chemistry
— Weanling rats were fed a diet containing 1.3 mg zinc/kg diet and controls the same diet supplemented by 40 mg zinc/kg diet. After 28 d on this dietary regime, the buccal epithelium of experimental animals showed increased thickness and parakeratosis. The activity and distribution of acid phosphatase were studied in buccal epithelium employing α‐naphthol phosphate as substrate for quantitative and slide histochemical techniques. The ultramicro assays showed that acid phosphatase activity increased by about 70% each in cellular and keratin layers of experimental animals. The sections showed that beginning in the lower spinous cells of experimental animals, reaction product was greatly increased at the cell periphery, but greatly decreased in the cell interior. It is suggested that increased enzyme activity reflects the hypertrophic response in the buccal epithelium of zinc‐deficient animals. Peripheral displacement of reaction product is unexplained, but diminished activity in the cell interior could account for parakeratosis and the persistence of cytoplasmic organelles in the keratin layer.