{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,21]],"date-time":"2026-08-21T10:24:35Z","timestamp":1787307875343,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"16","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,21]],"date-time":"2026-08-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1787270400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100007086","name":"Selcuk University","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["20202005"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["20202005"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100007086","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["20202005"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["20202005"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/045hgzm75","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Int. J. Mol. Sci.","IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This study investigated the effects of maternal zinc deficiency and post-weaning zinc status on neuroendocrine markers associated with pubertal regulation in female rat offspring. A total of 40 female rats were divided into four groups: zinc deficiency (G1; MZD + ZD), standard diet (G2; MZD + SD), zinc supplementation (G3; MZD + ZnS), and control (G4; CON). Groups G1\u2013G3 were obtained from mothers with zinc deficiency, while G4 was obtained from mothers fed a standard diet. The procedures lasted 45 days. GATAD1, kisspeptin, GnRH, and NPY gene expressions in hypothalamic tissues were analyzed by RT-PCR; serum kisspeptin, GnRH, FSH, LH, leptin, and NPY levels were analyzed by ELISA. The lowest GATAD1, kisspeptin, and NPY gene expressions were found in groups G1 and G2 (p &lt; 0.05), while the lowest GnRH expression was found in group G1 (p &lt; 0.05). Serum zinc, kisspeptin, GnRH, LH, and leptin levels were lowest in G1 (p &lt; 0.05) and highest in G3 and G4 (p &lt; 0.05). Similarly, FSH and NPY levels were low in G1 and G2 (p &lt; 0.05), and high in G3 and G4 (p &lt; 0.05). The findings suggest that maternal zinc deficiency negatively impacts puberty-related neuroendocrine markers, and that zinc supplementation may correct these markers.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms27167479","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,21]],"date-time":"2026-08-21T09:31:59Z","timestamp":1787304719000},"page":"7479","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Effects of Maternal Zinc Deficiency and Post-Weaning Zinc Status on Neuroendocrine Markers Associated with Pubertal Regulation in Female Rat Offspring"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"27","author":[{"given":"Meltem","family":"Gumus","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Faculty, Department of Child Health and Diseases, Selcuk University, 42250 Konya, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2759-7495","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Buse","family":"Gunayd\u0131n-Turker","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Faculty, Department of Physiology, Erciyes University, 38030 Kayseri, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7750-482X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nilufer","family":"Akgun-Unal","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Faculty, Department of Biophysics, Ondokuz Mayis University, 55139 Samsun, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2391-2152","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Elif","family":"Gulbahce-Mutlu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Faculty, Department of Medical Biology, KTO Karatay University, 42020 Konya, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9752-7508","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Saltuk Bugra","family":"Baltaci","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Faculty, Department of Physiology, Istanbul Medipol University, 34810 Istanbul, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4816-830X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Omer","family":"Unal","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Faculty, Department of Physiology, Samsun University, 55420 Samsun, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rasim","family":"Mogulkoc","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Faculty, Department of Physiology, Selcuk University, 42250 Konya, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2461-1212","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Abdulkerim Kasim","family":"Baltaci","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Faculty, Department of Physiology, Selcuk University, 42250 Konya, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Costa, M.I., Sarmento-Ribeiro, A.B., and Gon\u00e7alves, A.C. 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