Zinc content and subcellular distribution in red vs. white porcine skeletal muscle

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Abstract
Radioactivity of various porcine skeletal muscles varied fourfold 47 days following intravenous injection of Zn65. Specific activities (counts/min per [mu]g Zn) of various skeletal muscles did not differ greatly, and it was concluded that under the conditions used Zn65 concentration was therefore a rough indicator of muscle total zinc concentration. Red skeletal muscles had a three- to fourfold higher zinc content than did white muscles. In newborn pigs differences in zinc content among muscles were minimal but by 8 weeks of age the marked difference was found between red and white muscles. Red muscles showed a large increase in zinc concentration from birth to 8 weeks of age, whereas white muscles showed little change or a small decline. The difference in zinc content between a typical red (high-zinc) muscle and a white (low-zinc) muscle was found, by centrifugal separation of muscle homogenates, to be confined to the heavy fraction which was composed primarily of myofibrils and nuclei. Zinc content of the supernatant fraction was similar in red and white muscle, and mitochondrial and microsomal fractions accounted for only a small portion of the total muscle zinc in both types of muscle.

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