Effects of dietary molybdenum upon rat growth, liver and blood distributions of copper and molybdenum and upon phenol toxicity

The feeding or 200 to 500 parts per million or molybdenum to rats resulted in a greater percentage of the total liver copper being found in the nuclei and debris and mitochondrial fractions at the expense of the supernatant fraction, while the molybdenum was found to be concentrated in the supernatant fraction. Dietary inorganic sulfate while lowering liver levels of copper and molybdenum appeared to have little or no effect upon their distribution. Dietary molybdenum also caused the relative amount of copper in the supernatant fraction and erythrocytes of blood to decrease, while the increase occurred in the albumin fraction. As with liver, the blood fraction which contained the most molybdenum was the supernatant. Statistical analysis indicated that a quantity whIch was relatively well correlated with molybdenum toxicity as measured by weight gain was a combination of liver molybdenum and copper concentrations divided by body weight. It appeared that the only beneficial effect of sulfate was to lower this quantity. Sulfate excretion or the manner in which rats handled a toxic amount of phenol was found to be unaffected by molybdenum feeding. Earlier reports that dietary molybdenum caused a decrease in cytochrome-c oxidase activity and an increase in erythrocyte fragility could not be substantiated. An injected dose of radioactive molybdenum was found not to be equilibrated with the already present dietary molybdenum in sixteen hours.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph. D.

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Biochemistry and Nutrition

Department dc:contributor.department

Biochemistry and Nutrition

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Polytechnic Institute

Year dc:date.issued

1961

Author dc:creator

• Brinkman, Gail Lynn

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10919/76571

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/76571