Structural changes in rabbit oral epithelium caused by zinc deficiency.

We report the successful establishment of zinc deficiency in rabbits by dietary means. The soybean protein of a standard rabbit diet was replaced by egg albumin. Weanling, New Zealand white rabbits, were fed a low zinc diet containing 1.5 microgram Zn/g of diet. Zinc-deficient rabbits showed stunted growth, weight loss, altered posture, partial alopecia and crusting of skin. Structural alterations in oral epithelium of the zinc-deficient rabbits included in the tongue flattened filiform papillae showing parakeratosis, in the cheek parakeratosis of the normally nonkeratinized epithelium and hyperplasia of the lip epidermis.