{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,13]],"date-time":"2026-10-13T21:53:34Z","timestamp":1791928414155,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":52,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,10]],"date-time":"2024-06-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1717977600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"NSERC Discovery","award":["05880-19"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["05880-19"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Zinc deficiency has been associated with the worsening of diabetes while zinc supplementation has been proposed to ameliorate diabetes. This study examined the effects of marginal zinc deficiency (MZD) and zinc supplementation (ZS) on obesity, glycemic control, pancreatic islets, hepatic steatosis and renal function of Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rats. Male ZDF rats were fed an MZD, zinc control (ZC) or ZS diet (4, 30 and 300 mg Zn\/kg diet, respectively), and lean Zucker rats were fed a ZC diet for 8 weeks. MZD and ZS did not alter body weight or whole-body composition in ZDF rats. MZD ZDF rats had reduced zinc concentrations in the femur and pancreas, a greater number of enlarged pancreatic islets and a diminished response to an oral glucose load based on a 1.8-fold greater incremental area-under-the-curve (AUC) for glucose compared to ZC ZDF. ZS ZDF rats had elevated serum, femur and pancreatic zinc concentrations, unchanged pancreatic parameters and a 50% reduction in the AUC for insulin compared to ZC ZDF rats, suggesting greater insulin sensitivity. Dietary zinc intake did not alter hepatic steatosis, creatinine clearance, or levels of proteins that contribute to insulin signaling, inflammation or zinc transport in epididymal fat. Potential adverse effects of ZS were suggested by reduced hepatic copper concentrations and elevated serum urea compared to ZC ZDF rats. In summary, ZS improved the pancreatic insulin response but not the glucose handling. In contrast, reduced zinc status in ZDF rats led to impaired glucose tolerance and a compensatory increase in the number and size of pancreatic islets which could lead to \u03b2-cell exhaustion.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu16121819","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,10]],"date-time":"2024-06-10T08:49:03Z","timestamp":1718009343000},"page":"1819","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":11,"title":["Marginal Zinc Deficiency Promotes Pancreatic Islet Enlargement While Zinc Supplementation Improves the Pancreatic Insulin Response in Zucker Diabetic Fatty Rats"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Leslie","family":"Rech","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Food and Human Nutritional Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2, Canada"},{"name":"Canadian Centre for Agri-Food Research in Health and Medicine, St. Boniface Albrechtsen Research Centre, 351 Tache Avenue, Winnipeg, MB R2H 2A6, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7814-0658","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Peter","family":"Zahradka","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Food and Human Nutritional Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2, Canada"},{"name":"Canadian Centre for Agri-Food Research in Health and Medicine, St. Boniface Albrechtsen Research Centre, 351 Tache Avenue, Winnipeg, MB R2H 2A6, Canada"},{"name":"Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0J9, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3358-6418","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Carla G.","family":"Taylor","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Food and Human Nutritional Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2, Canada"},{"name":"Canadian Centre for Agri-Food Research in Health and Medicine, St. Boniface Albrechtsen Research Centre, 351 Tache Avenue, Winnipeg, MB R2H 2A6, Canada"},{"name":"Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0J9, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"104","DOI":"10.2174\/1570161117666190405165911","article-title":"The Growing Epidemic of Diabetes Mellitus","volume":"18","author":"Lovic","year":"2020","journal-title":"Curr. 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