Spontaneous Zinc Deficiency in Marmosets, Saguinus Mystax
August 1979
in “
PubMed
”
Studysummary This study found that adding zinc to the drinking water improved hair coat and skin condition in moustached marmosets with symptoms resembling zinc deficiency. Our plain-language summary of this paper — not a Tressless recommendation.
Moustached marmosets, Saguinus mystax, exhibited symptoms of alopecia, skin lesions, and general debilitation approximately 6 months after being introduced to a laboratory environment. These symptoms were similar to zinc deficiency observed in other animals such as pigs, rats, and squirrel monkeys. The marmosets were initially fed a commercial monkey diet with 150 ppm zinc and supplemented with apples and oranges. The addition of 40 ppm zinc to their drinking water led to improvements in their hair coat and skin condition, indicating that zinc supplementation was beneficial in addressing the deficiency symptoms.
