Influence of zinc deficiency to the rats infected with Babesia rodhaini.

Zinc deficiency induces a wide range of disorders including immunodeficiency. It is known that microbial infections occur with a high frequency in the zinc-deficient hosts, but the study on the correlation between parasitic infection and zinc status in hosts is scarcely performed. We observed that the influence of zinc deficiency to the rats infected with Babesia rodhaini. Experiments of B. rodhaini infection were conducted using zinc-deficient (ZD; eat ad libitum or 10 g/day on the ZD diet), zinc-adequate (ZA; eat ad libitum on the ZA diet), and diet-restricted (DR; eat 7 g/day on the ZA diet) rats. The findings in this study suggested that the zinc deficiency had deleterious effects on the hemodynamics and mortality of the rats infected with B. rodhaini.