Impact of high dietary zinc on zinc accumulation, enzyme activity and proteomic profiles in the pancreas of piglets

The exocrine pancreas plays an important role in zinc homeostasis. Feeding very high (2000–3000mgzinc/kg diet) levels of zinc oxide to piglets for short periods is a common practice in the swine industry to improve performance and prevent diseases. The impact on pancreatic function and possible side effects during long-term feeding of high dietary zinc levels are still poorly understood. A total of 54 weaned piglets were either fed with low (57mg/kg, LZn), normal (164mg/kg, NZn) or high (2425mg/kg, HZn) zinc concentration in the diets. After 4 weeks of feeding, ten piglets per treatment were euthanized and pancreas samples were taken. Tissue zinc concentration and metallothionein abundance was greater with HZn compared with NZn and LZn (P