The enhancement by dietary zinc deficiency of the susceptibility of the rat duodenum to colchicine.

1. The incidence of colchicine-induced lesions in the germinal epithelium oof the rat duodenum was studied in young rats in an early stage of zinc deficiency and in their pair-fed controls. At both dose levels of colchicine used, a marked increase in the amount of cell damage was observed in the duodenum of Zn-deficient rats as compared with the pair-fed, control (Zn-supplemented) rats. 2. No statistical interaction between Zn and colchicine was demonstrable, and no lesions were found in the duodenum of animals that had not been treated with colchicine. 3. The results are discussed in relation to the effects of Zn deficiency in animals and the possible involvement of Zn in the maintenance of the integrity of microtubular structures.