Cardiac abnormalities induced by zinc deficiency are associated with alterations in the expression of genes regulated by the zinc‐finger transcription factor GATA‐4

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Abstract
Zinc (Zn) deficiency during pregnancy results in a wide variety of developmental abnormalities. The objective of this study was to determine if expression of cardiac developmental genes regulated by Zn‐finger transcription factors could be modulated during dietary Zn deficiency. Rats were fed 0.5 (low Zn) or 90 (controls) µg Zn/g diet throughout pregnancy. Fetal development was examined and RNA isolated at gestation day (GD) 13 and 20. Cardiac abnormalities were detected at GD 20 in 82% of fetuses from dams fed low Zn diets compared with only 2% in controls. Cardiac developmental gene expression regulated by the Zn‐finger transcription factor, GATA‐4, was measured by quantitative reverse transcriptase‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR). In GD 13 and 20 hearts, two genes critical for heart development, α‐myosin heavy chain (α‐MHC) and cardiac troponin I (cTnI), were down‐regulated in Zn‐deficient fetuses. Expression of α‐MHC was 66 and 40% lower at GD 13 and 20, respectively, in fetuses from dams fed low Zn diets compared with fetuses from control dams (ppBirth Defects Res B 71:102–109, 2004.