Variation in the amounts of hepatic copper, zinc and metallothionein mRNA during development in the rat

Amounts of hepatic metallothionein mRNA were assessed in RNA from foetal and neonatal rat livers by using dot-blot hybridization. Metallothionein mRNA began to increase about day 15 of gestation and reached a foetal maximum of 5-fold higher than adult values between 18 and 21 days of gestation. The amounts fell significantly for the first 3 days after parturition, and rose again to 6-fold above adult values 6 days after birth. By 15 days after birth the metallothionein mRNA had declined to adult amounts. In comparison, amounts of ornithine transcarbamoylase mRNA did not vary greatly during development. Hepatic zinc concentrations increased from day 14 of gestation to a maximum just before birth, and remained above adult values until 30 days after birth. From 14 days of gestation to 8 days after birth, hepatic copper concentrations were about 4-fold higher than in the adult, but a substantial increase (to about 9-fold higher than in the adult) occurs between 10 and 15 days after birth. CdCl2 administered to pregnant rats on day 18 of gestation was shown to block placental transfer of zinc, and we found decreased foetal hepatic zinc concentration after the CdCl2 treatment, but this failed to cause a significant decrease in metallothionein mRNA, suggesting that zinc may not be the primary inducer of hepatic metallothionein mRNA during foetal life.