AJP - Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, Vol 240, Issue 5 272-R275, Copyright © 1981 by American Physiological Society
Plasma iron, copper, and zinc in lizard Dipsosaurus dorsalis: effects of bacteria injection
M. R. Hacker, B. A. Rothenburg and M. J. Kluger
The effects of inoculation of desert iguanas (Dipsosaurus dorsalis) with
heat-killed Aeromonas hydrophila on the plasma concentrations of iron,
copper, and zinc, and the total iron-binding capacity have been determined.
Plasma iron concentration and total iron-binding capacity fell
significantly in inoculated lizards maintained at temperatures
corresponding to those selected during fever. Plasma copper concentration
did not change in response to inoculation (as determined at 24 h
postinjection). Plasma zinc concentration fell in inoculated lizards
regardless of whether the lizards were maintained at temperatures
corresponding to those selected by afebrile or febrile lizards. There were
no effects of varying the zinc concentration (corresponding to those
observed in noninfected lizards, infected lizards, or at subnormal levels)
on the in vitro growth rate of A. hydrophila. We hypothesize that the
reduction in plasma zinc observed in infected mammals, and now in infected
lizards, may have an effect (perhaps by some indirect pathway) on the in
vivo growth rate of A. hydrophila.
