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Ugeskrift For Laeger Mar 2014Zinc is one of the most important trace elements. Zinc deficiency is a major health problem worldwide. Causes of zinc deficiency can be nutritional, iatrogenic, genetic... (Review)
Review
Zinc is one of the most important trace elements. Zinc deficiency is a major health problem worldwide. Causes of zinc deficiency can be nutritional, iatrogenic, genetic or a result of diseases. Severe zinc deficiency results in symptoms like pustular dermatitis, alopecia, weight loss, diarrhoea, infections secondary to immune dysfunction, hypogonadism and problems in ulcer healing. Zinc supplementation is necessary in cases of zinc deficiency, but high doses zinc supplementation through a long time can result in copper deficiency or anaemia. Thus a rational use of zinc supplementation in the required time is necessary.
Topics: Humans; Trace Elements; Zinc
PubMed: 25096007
DOI: No ID Found -
American Family Physician May 2009Zinc is an essential micronutrient for human metabolism that catalyzes more than 100 enzymes, facilitates protein folding, and helps regulate gene expression. Patients...
Zinc is an essential micronutrient for human metabolism that catalyzes more than 100 enzymes, facilitates protein folding, and helps regulate gene expression. Patients with malnutrition, alcoholism, inflammatory bowel disease, and malabsorption syndromes are at an increased risk of zinc deficiency. Symptoms of zinc deficiency are nonspecific, including growth retardation, diarrhea, alopecia, glossitis, nail dystrophy, decreased immunity, and hypogonadism in males. In developing countries, zinc supplementation may be effective for the prevention of upper respiratory infection and diarrhea, and as an adjunct treatment for diarrhea in malnourished children. Zinc in combination with antioxidants may be modestly effective in slowing the progression of intermediate and advanced age-related macular degeneration. Zinc is an effective treatment for Wilson disease. Current data do not support zinc supplementation as effective for upper respiratory infection, wound healing, or human immunodeficiency virus. Zinc is well tolerated at recommended dosages. Adverse effects of long-term high-dose zinc use include suppressed immunity, decreased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, anemia, copper deficiency, and possible genitourinary complications.
Topics: Humans; Micronutrients; Zinc
PubMed: 20141096
DOI: No ID Found -
Wound Repair and Regeneration :... 2007Zinc is an essential trace element in the human body and its importance in health and disease is appreciated. It serves as a cofactor in numerous transcription factors... (Review)
Review
Zinc is an essential trace element in the human body and its importance in health and disease is appreciated. It serves as a cofactor in numerous transcription factors and enzyme systems including zinc-dependent matrix metalloproteinases that augment autodebridement and keratinocyte migration during wound repair. Zinc confers resistance to epithelial apoptosis through cytoprotection against reactive oxygen species and bacterial toxins possibly through antioxidant activity of the cysteine-rich metallothioneins. Zinc deficiency of hereditary or dietary cause can lead to pathological changes and delayed wound healing. Oral zinc supplementation may be beneficial in treating zinc-deficient leg ulcer patients, but its therapeutic place in surgical patients needs further clarification. Topical administration of zinc appears to be superior to oral therapy due to its action in reducing superinfections and necrotic material via enhanced local defense systems and collagenolytic activity, and the sustained release of zinc ions that stimulates epithelialization of wounds in normozincemic individuals. Zinc oxide in paste bandages (Unna boot) protects and soothes inflamed peri-ulcer skin. Zinc is transported through the skin from these formulations, although the systemic effects seem insignificant. We present here the first comprehensive account of zinc in wound management in relation to current concepts of wound bed preparation and the wound-healing cascade. This review article suggests that topical zinc therapy is underappreciated even though clinical evidence emphasizes its importance in autodebridement, anti-infective action, and promotion of epithelialization.
Topics: Deficiency Diseases; Humans; Skin Physiological Phenomena; Wound Healing; Zinc
PubMed: 17244314
DOI: 10.1111/j.1524-475X.2006.00179.x -
International Journal of Molecular... Jul 2020Zinc supplementation is reported to slow down the progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), but there is no general consensus on the beneficiary effect on... (Review)
Review
Zinc supplementation is reported to slow down the progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), but there is no general consensus on the beneficiary effect on zinc in AMD. As zinc can stimulate autophagy that is declined in AMD, it is rational to assume that it can slow down its progression. As melanosomes are the main reservoir of zinc in the retina, zinc may decrease the number of lipofuscin granules that are substrates for autophagy. The triad zinc-autophagy-AMD could explain some controversies associated with population studies on zinc supplementation in AMD as the effect of zinc on AMD may be modulated by genetic background. This aspect was not determined in many studies regarding zinc in AMD. Zinc deficiency induces several events associated with AMD pathogenesis, including increased oxidative stress, lipid peroxidation and the resulting lipofuscinogenesis. The latter requires autophagy, which is impaired. This is a vicious cycle-like reaction that may contribute to AMD progression. Promising results with zinc deficiency and supplementation in AMD patients and animal models, as well as emerging evidence of the importance of autophagy in AMD, are the rationale for future research on the role of autophagy in the role of zinc supplementation in AMD.
Topics: Animals; Autophagy; Dietary Supplements; Disease Progression; Humans; Macular Degeneration; Oxidative Stress; Retina; Zinc
PubMed: 32679798
DOI: 10.3390/ijms21144994 -
Pancreatology : Official Journal of the... Oct 2020Zinc is an essential trace element. Deficiencies are frequently seen with gastrointestinal diseases, including chronic pancreatitis, nutritional deficiency, and reduced... (Review)
Review
Zinc is an essential trace element. Deficiencies are frequently seen with gastrointestinal diseases, including chronic pancreatitis, nutritional deficiency, and reduced intestinal absorption. Additionally, reduced zinc levels have been linked to cellular changes associated with acute pancreatitis such as enhanced inflammation with increased macrophage activation and production of inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1β, impaired autophagy, and modulation of calcium homeostasis. Preliminary data suggest that zinc deficiency may lead to pancreatic injury in animal models. The purpose of this review is to explore the biologic effects of zinc deficiency that could impact pancreatic disease. MESH KEYWORDS: Malnutrition, inflammation, trace element.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Inflammation; Pancreas; Pancreatic Diseases; Zinc
PubMed: 32917512
DOI: 10.1016/j.pan.2020.08.016 -
Journal of Biological Inorganic... May 2018Zinc is one of the most important microelements necessary for normal body functioning. Zinc is marked in numerous diseases and, hence, its properties and behavior in the... (Review)
Review
Zinc is one of the most important microelements necessary for normal body functioning. Zinc is marked in numerous diseases and, hence, its properties and behavior in the body have long been a subject of extensive study. This review considers trends in the assessment of the role of zinc and its compounds in the past decade. It becomes evident that redox-inactive zinc is the main supervisor in the conformation of the most important molecules in all body organs and tissues. We placed emphasis on the variety of zinc-binding sites and the role of zinc in the genesis and progress of different forms of leukemia. The importance of some families of transcription factors in the development and prognosis of treatment of various leukemia forms is examined; new directions of these studies are shown.
Topics: Binding Sites; Homeostasis; Humans; Leukemia; Transcription Factors; Zinc; Zinc Compounds
PubMed: 29492645
DOI: 10.1007/s00775-018-1545-9 -
Molecules and Cells May 2021Zinc is an essential micronutrient with crucial roles in multiple facets of biological processes. Dysregulated zinc homeostasis impairs overall immune function and... (Review)
Review
Zinc is an essential micronutrient with crucial roles in multiple facets of biological processes. Dysregulated zinc homeostasis impairs overall immune function and resultantly increases susceptibility to infection. Clinically, zinc supplementation is practiced for treatment of several infectious diseases, such as diarrhea and malaria. Recent focus on zinc as a beneficial element for immune system support has resulted in investigation of the immunomodulatory roles of zinc in a variety of immune cells. Besides its classical role as a cofactor that regulates the structural function of thousands of proteins, accumulating evidence suggests that zinc also acts, in a manner similar to calcium, as an ionic regulator of immune responses via participation as an intracellular messenger in signaling pathways. In this review, we focus on the role of zinc as a signaling molecule in major pathways such as those downstream of Toll-like receptors-, T cell receptor-, and cytokine-mediated signal transduction that regulate the activity and function of monocytes/macrophages and T cells, principal players in the innate and adaptive immune systems.
Topics: Humans; Signal Transduction; Zinc
PubMed: 33986184
DOI: 10.14348/molcells.2021.0061 -
Annals of Nutrition & Metabolism 2013
Topics: Dietary Supplements; Humans; Micronutrients; Periodicals as Topic; Zinc
PubMed: 23689108
DOI: 10.1159/000348577 -
Free Radical Biology & Medicine Apr 2019Zinc(II) ions are redox-inert in biology. Yet, their interaction with sulfur of cysteine in cellular proteins can confer ligand-centered redox activity on zinc... (Review)
Review
Zinc(II) ions are redox-inert in biology. Yet, their interaction with sulfur of cysteine in cellular proteins can confer ligand-centered redox activity on zinc coordination sites, control protein functions, and generate signalling zinc ions as potent effectors of many cellular processes. The specificity and relative high affinity of binding sites for zinc allow regulation in redox biology, free radical biology, and the biology of reactive species. Understanding the role of zinc in these areas of biology requires an understanding of how cellular Zn is homeostatically controlled and can serve as a regulatory ion in addition to Ca, albeit at much lower concentrations. A rather complex system of dozens of transporters and metallothioneins buffer the relatively high (hundreds of micromolar) total cellular zinc concentrations in such a way that the available zinc ion concentrations are only picomolar but can fluctuate in signalling. The proteins targeted by Zn transients include enzymes controlling phosphorylation and redox signalling pathways. Networks of regulatory functions of zinc integrate gene expression and metabolic and signalling pathways at several hierarchical levels. They affect enzymatic catalysis, protein structure and protein-protein/biomolecular interactions and add to the already impressive number of catalytic and structural functions of zinc in an estimated three thousand human zinc proteins. The effects of zinc on redox biology have adduced evidence that zinc is an antioxidant. Without further qualifications, this notion is misleading and prevents a true understanding of the roles of zinc in biology. Its antioxidant-like effects are indirect and expressed only in certain conditions because a lack of zinc and too much zinc have pro-oxidant effects. Teasing apart these functions based on quantitative considerations of homeostatic control of cellular zinc is critical because opposite consequences are observed depending on the concentrations of zinc: pro- or anti-apoptotic, pro- or anti-inflammatory and cytoprotective or cytotoxic. The article provides a biochemical basis for the links between redox and zinc biology and discusses why zinc has pleiotropic functions. Perturbation of zinc metabolism is a consequence of conditions of redox stress. Zinc deficiency, either nutritional or conditioned, and cellular zinc overload cause oxidative stress. Thus, there is causation in the relationship between zinc metabolism and the many diseases associated with oxidative stress.
Topics: Animals; Homeostasis; Humans; Oxidation-Reduction; Oxidative Stress; Signal Transduction; Zinc
PubMed: 30625394
DOI: 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2019.01.006 -
Journal of Molecular Neuroscience : MN Dec 2021Spinal cord injury is a serious disease of the central nervous system, but there is no effective treatment. And zinc is an essential nutrient for human body and... (Review)
Review
Spinal cord injury is a serious disease of the central nervous system, but there is no effective treatment. And zinc is an essential nutrient for human body and participates in many physiological processes, such as immune response, homeostasis, oxidative stress, cell cycle progression, DNA replication, DNA damage repair, apoptosis, and aging. This article mainly summarizes that zinc could predict the prognosis and treat the spinal cord injury. Especially, zinc could help to inhibit inflammation, regulate autophagy, and reduce oxidative stress. However, excessive zinc will damage neurons.
Topics: Animals; Autophagy; Humans; Neurons; Neuroprotective Agents; Oxidative Stress; Spinal Cord Injuries; Zinc
PubMed: 34160751
DOI: 10.1007/s12031-021-01859-x