BACKGROUND Phytic acid is a strong inhibitor of iron absorption from fortified foods. In adults, this inhibitory effect can be overcome by adding ascorbic acid with the iron fortificant or by using a "protected" iron compound such as NaFeEDTA. In addition, the use of NaFeEDTA as an iron fortificant has been reported to increase zinc absorption in adult women. No information is available on iron...

Supplementation with zinc improves overall health, productivity and performance of production animals such as poultry, swine and dairy animals as measured by body weight increase, final body weight or feed/gain ratios. Reports on beneficial effects of zinc supplementation are fewer for companion animals. Lowe et al. (1994 a) reported more hair growth with higher zinc content in dogs upon supple...

OBJECTIVE We compared the effects of different kinds of bread fermentation on mineral bioavailability. METHODS Wistar rats were fed one of the following experimental diets for 21 d: control, reconstituted whole wheat flour (white flour plus bran), yeast bread, and sourdough bread. The apparent mineral absorption and intestinal fermentation were measured in each animal. RESULTS Phytate conte...

Despite attempts to use zinc (Zn) concentrations in hard tissues to comment upon the degree of carnivory in past populations, zinc has yielded inconsistent trophic level effects. The question of what, if anything, zinc in human enamel reveals regarding past diets is the focus of this research. We test whether the zinc content of deciduous tooth enamel from contemporary Mexican infants varies by...

This work reports on the development of a point-of-care (POC) system for electrochemical measurement of zinc in blood serum. Critically ill pediatric patients have consistently demonstrated abnormally low blood zinc levels. Supplementation of zinc as been proposed as therapeutic strategy. The conventional approach using atomic absorption spectroscopy is sensitive but has a long time around (24-...

Acrodermatitis enteropathica (ADE) is an uncommon, inherited disorder occurring due to defective Zinc absorption. It can occur as an acquired condition secondary to impaired intestinal absorption in wide variety of clinical conditions or due to nutritional deficiency. It is clinically characterized by triad of acral dermatitis, alopecia and diarrhoea. The preferential involvement of acral and p...

Zinc participation is essential for all physiological systems, including neural functioning, where it participates in a myriad of cellular processes. Converging clinical, molecular, and genetic discoveries illuminate key roles for zinc homeostasis in association with clinical depression and psychosis which are not yet well appreciated at the clinical interface. Intracellular deficiency may aris...

BACKGROUND Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) cause a sharp elevation of gastro-duodenal luminal pH which in turn has resulted in reports of reduced absorption of magnesium and certain other nutrients. METHODS Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) patients on long-term PPI therapy (> 6 months) or healthy test subjects (not on any acid preventive or neutralizing medication) were administered oral ...

BACKGROUND Zinc deficiency has been reported frequently in hepatitis C patients in the literature. Furthermore, a decrease in zinc level has been shown in beta thalassemia major as well. Iranians consume a large amount of phytate in their regimens which can bind with zinc and decrease its gastrointestinal absorption. OBJECTIVES This study was designed to determine plasma zinc level in an Iran...