Role of Zinc in Fertility and Fecundity in the Rat

Abstract

It has been previously shown that zinc is present in high concentrations in the dorsolateral prostate of the rat (Mawson, C. A. and M. I. Fischer. Nature, London 167: 859, 1951) and that administered Zn65 is selectively taken up by that accessory sex gland (Gunn, S. A., T. C. Gould et al. Proc. Soc. Exper. Biol. & Med. 88: 556, 1955). This paper demonstrates that Zn65 traverses the entire female reproductive tract after ejaculation. The removal of large amounts of zinc from the ejaculate, by dorsolateral prostatectomy, has no deleterious effect on either fertility or fecundity.