Bioaccumulation of Zinc in some organs of rabbits

Zinc bioaccumulation in various organs of rabbits, Oryctolagus cuniculus, was determined using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. The study was conducted under laboratory conditions. Three replicates were done, each replicate is composed of six two to three months old male rabbits that were evenly divided into control and treated groups. Intravenous injection of 0.9 percent saline solution for control group was made, while, the treated group was exposed to 16.54 mg/kg sub lethal dose of zinc. Organs of rabbits were analyzed, these are the small intestine, large intestine, stomach, muscles, kidneys, lungs, liver and heart. Results showed that the organ that accumulated the highest zinc concentration in the treated group is the small intestine with a mean value of 0.1905 + 0.0083 mg/g, followed by (in decreasing order) large intestine 0.1701 + 0.0083 mg/g, stomach 0.1709 + 0.0155 mg/g, lungs 0.1733 + 0.0021 mg/g, kidney 0.1710 + 0.0020 mg/g, lungs 0.1733 + 0.0021 mg/g, liver 0.1880 + 0.0123 mg/g and heart 0.1370 + 0.0030 mg/g. Statistical analysis showed that there was a slight significant difference in the accumulation of zinc between the control and treated groups in most part of the organs except liver and heart were the zinc concentration is insignificant