Table 1.

MT-I+II, MT-III, IL-6 mRNAs and zinc content in the thymus from young, old and very old mice.

Mice	MT-I+II (MT-I/βactin)	IL-6 (IL-6/βactin)	MT-III (MT-III/βactin)	Zinc content (μg/gr.)	Absolute thymus weight (mg)
Young	0.18 ± 0.02	0.14 ± 0.03	0.48 ± 0.02	62.3 ± 11.2	30.6 ± 5.0
Old	3.52 ± 0.3*	0.23 ± 0.02§	1.65 ± 0.03*	107.4 ± 27.5**	13.6 ± 2.0§
Very old	1.29 ± 0.6+	0.18 ± 0.04+	1.63 ± 0.02*	77.4 ± 8.7	15.4 ± 2.3§

*p < 0.001 when compared to young mice; ⁺p < 0.01 when compared to old mice;

**p < 0.01 when compared to young and very old mice; ^§p < 0.01 when compared to young mice;

⁺⁺p < 0.05 when compared to old mice