Comparison of the Effect of DDE on the Ca Metabolism of the Eggshell Gland and its Subcellular Fractions of the Duck and the Domestic Fowl

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Abstract
In a strain of ducks sensitive to the eggshell-thinning effect of p-p''-DDE, administration of 40 mg/kg of the compound in the food for 45 days reduced the eggshell index (EI) by 13% and the content of Ca in the fluid of the shell gland forming an eggshell by 36%, and raised the Ca content of the shell gland mucosa by 19%, compared with the control values. DDE inhibited the translocation (secretion) of Ca between the gland mucosa and the uterine cavity. The ATP-dependent binding of Ca2+ to the subcellular fractions of the gland mucosa was reduced in DDE-treated ducks. The Ca2+ binding to a microsomal subfraction (FI) rich in fragments of the plasma membrane was reduced by 16%; that to a subfraction FIII which bound Ca2+ at a high rate was reduced by 36%. The latter may have contained Ca-secreting granules of the gland. In the mitochondrial fraction the Ca2+ binding was reduced by 35%. In the domestic fowl DDE did not lower EI or interfere with the translocation of Ca between the shell gland mucosa and uterine cavity. DDE administration increased the Ca2+ binding to FI by 26%; the binding to other subfractions was not changed significantly. DDE may have interfered with the stimulus-secretion mechanism of the eggshell gland in ducks through its effect on Ca2+ binding.

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