BACKGROUND Food fortification has been recommended to improve a population's micronutrient status. Biofortification techniques modestly elevate the zinc content of cereals, but few studies have reported a positive impact on functional indicators of zinc status. OBJECTIVE We determined the impact of a modest increase in dietary zinc that was similar to that provided by biofortification program...

BACKGROUND Zinc deficiency is increasingly recognized as an important cause of mortality and morbidity. Children in developing countries are at especially high risk because of relatively low zinc intakes and poor bioavailability. OBJECTIVE We assessed the effect of 2-wk adaptation to low zinc intake (4 mg/d) on fractional zinc absorption, endogenous fecal zinc excretion, and urinary zinc excr...

After the discovery of zinc deficiency in the 1960s, it soon became clear that zinc is essential for the function of the immune system. Zinc ions are involved in regulating intracellular signaling pathways in innate and adaptive immune cells. Zinc homeostasis is largely controlled via the expression and action of zinc "importers" (ZIP 1-14), zinc "exporters" (ZnT 1-10), and zinc-binding protein...

Zinc (Zn(2+)) appears to be intimately involved in insulin metabolism since insulin secretion is correlated with zinc secretion in response to glucose stimulation, but little is known about the regulation of zinc homeostasis in pancreatic beta-cells. This study set out to identify the intracellular zinc transient by imaging free cytosolic zinc in HIT-T15 beta-cells with fluorescent zinc indicat...

Human zinc deficiency is thought to be prevalent worldwide, particularly in populations with diets low in zinc and animal protein and high in inhibitors of zinc absorption, such as phytic acid. Confirmation of zinc deficiency is, however, difficult in the absence of a reliable and sensitive marker of zinc status. Under controlled conditions, T-lymphocyte metallothionein-2A (MT-2A) mRNA levels c...

In several brain injury models, zinc accumulates in degenerating neuronal somata. Suggesting that such zinc accumulation may play a causal role in neurodegeneration, zinc chelation attenuates neuronal death. Because histochemically reactive zinc is present in and released from synaptic vesicles of glutamatergic neurons in the forebrain, it was proposed that zinc translocation from presynaptic t...

BACKGROUND The associations among dietary zinc intakes and biomarkers of zinc status are unknown in apparently healthy children at high risk for zinc deficiency. OBJECTIVE To assess associations among zinc-related parameters in a sample of Guatemalan school-aged children. METHODS We assessed total dietary intakes and biomarkers of zinc status before and after receiving 6 months of zinc supp...

Zinc is an essential metal involved in a wide range of biological processes, and aberrant zinc metabolism is implicated in human diseases. The gastrointestinal tract of animals is a critical site of zinc metabolism that is responsible for dietary zinc uptake and distribution to the body. However, the role of the gastrointestinal tract in zinc excretion remains unclear. Zinc transporters are key...

A role for metallothionein in intestinal zinc absorption has been the subject of considerable debate. If metallothionein affects zinc absorption, then those factors that induce metallothionein synthesis (e.g., heavy metals, hormones) should alter zinc absorption and homeostasis. The present studies used metallothionein transgenic mice (overexpressing) and metallothionein knockout mice (no expre...

A role for metallothionein in intestinal zinc absorption has been the subject of considerable debate. If metallothionein affects zinc absorption, then those factors that induce metallothionein synthesis (e.g., heavy metals, hormones) should alter zinc absorption and homeostasis. The present studies used metallothionein transgenic mice (overexpressing) and metallothionein knockout mice (no expre...