The assessment of zinc status by the zinc tolerance test in various groups of patients.
TL;DR: The results of the present experiment indicate that the zinc tolerance test, that is, an unequivocal rise in serum zinc following per oral administration of this metal, provides the best indication of zinc status.
Abstract: The zinc status of young and aged subjects, hypertensives, geriatric patients with leg ulcers and cancer patients has been determined by various means. Serum, saliva, urine and hair zinc were measured by atomic absorption spectrometry and no correlation was observed between the zinc levels in any of these differing matrices. The mean hair and salivary zinc level showed little variation between the differing groups of patients and provided little or no indication of zinc status. The results of the present experiment indicate that the zinc tolerance test, that is, an unequivocal rise in serum zinc following per oral administration of this metal. provides the best indication of zinc status.
Citations
More filters
[...]
TL;DR: Biochemical and clinical investigations involving trace elements are made for the diagnosis of inherited or acquired deficiencies of essential trace elements and their treatment, to monitor the efficacy of the therapeutic administration of non-essential trace elements in order to achieve maximum clinical response with minimum toxicity, and for the early detection of excessive ingestion ofnon-essential toxic trace elements.
Abstract: Biochemical and clinical investigations involving trace elements are made for the diagnosis of inherited or acquired deficiencies of essential trace elements and their treatment, to monitor the efficacy of the therapeutic administration of non-essential trace elements in order to achieve maximum clinical response with minimum toxicity, and for the early detection of excessive ingestion of non-essential toxic trace elements. The wide range of tests used to assess trace element status in these three areas of clinical importance is discussed with examples of essential and of toxic trace elements since therapeutic use of trace elements is discussed elsewhere in this issue. Particular attention is given to zinc, copper, selenium, lead and cadmium because the various tests used to assess the status of these elements encompass the principles of all currently available tests. Although trace element analysis of body fluids and tissues is the most useful and most commonly used method of assessment of trace element status, this is of limited value and no single test may be considered as ideal for any element. The provision of more detailed information from elemental analysis of cellular and subcellular fractions and of protein fractions from plasma leads inexorably to measurements of element-dependent enzymes, metalloproteins and of low molecular weight element-binding ligands. Even at this level of discrimination the choice of body tissue or tissue fluid for investigation is determined by the trace element and its principal metabolic targets.
81 citations
[...]
TL;DR: It is suggested that a mild acute phase response may account for lowered zinc and raised copper in the plasma of athletes.
Abstract: The effect of 30 or 40 min hard exercise on a cycle ergometer upon plasma concentrations of zinc, iron and copper in twelve healthy male athletes was studied. Sweat samples were also collected from different body sites and analyzed for these metals. The metal content of sweat from different body sites varied, as did the sweating rates of different subjects. Pre-exercise plasma iron concentrations in 10 of the 12 subjects were within the normal range, but at least 4 subjects had sub-normal plasma zinc whereas six had plasma copper levels above normal. The effects of exercise on plasma metal concentrations varied from subject to subject; no general conclusions could be drawn about the biological significance of loss of metals in sweat in relation to whole body metal metabolism. It is suggested that a mild acute phase response may account for lowered zinc and raised copper in the plasma of athletes.
73 citations
[...]
TL;DR: Moderate but significant age-associated increases in detection thresholds for both sodium chloride and sucrose were found; taste thresholds were not correlated to plasma uptake of the zinc dose in either age group.
Abstract: Plasma uptake of a 25 mg oral dose of zinc was measured at 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 h postdose in 16 elderly (mean age = 7.25 yr) and 12 young (mean age = 24.0 yr) subjects selected from a group of 62 healthy nonsmokers. Elderly and young subjects were divided into two groups based upon low or high detection thresholds for solutions of sodium chloride and sucrose. Mean fasting concentrations of plasma zinc were almost identical for the two age groups. Plasma response to a zinc dose was lower (p less than 0.05) in the elderly compared to that in the young, as indicated by plasma zinc levels at hours 2 and 3 postdose and by total area under the response curve. Moderate but significant age-associated increases in detection thresholds for both sodium chloride and sucrose were found; taste thresholds were not correlated to plasma uptake of the zinc dose in either age group.
49 citations
Cites background or result from "The assessment of zinc status by th..."
[...]
[...]
[...]
TL;DR: The discrepancy between the results of zinc absorption derived from the plasma zinc curve and 65Zn absorption for the liquid and solid test meals was most likely explained by binding of zinc to food and delayed gastric emptying of the solid meal.
Abstract: Increases in plasma zinc concentration were compared with radiozinc absorption after oral test doses. Ten healthy, fasting subjects were each given 385 mumol zinc chloride (25 mg Zn) labelled with 0.5 muCi 65ZnCl2 and a non-absorbed marker, 51CrCl3, dissolved in 100 ml of water; another 10 persons were given 354 mumol zinc chloride and 125 g of minced turkey containing 31 mumol zinc also labelled with 65Zn and 51Cr. Measurements were made of plasma zinc concentration at hourly intervals for 5 hours, radiozinc absorption by stool counting of unabsorbed radioactivity 12-36 hours later, and radiozinc retention by whole body counting at 7 days. The mean percentage of radiozinc absorbed and retained in the body from the two test meals was found to be identical (42%). In contrast the increased area under the plasma zinc curve up to 5 hours after the turkey meal, 28 +/- 9 mumol/L (mean +/- SD) was significantly less than that for zinc chloride alone, 47 +/- 15 mumol/L, p less than 0.005. Despite this difference, a good correlation was found between the area under the plasma zinc curve and 65Zn absorption in individual subjects after each meal. The discrepancy between the results of zinc absorption derived from the plasma zinc curve and 65Zn absorption for the liquid and solid test meals was most likely explained by binding of zinc to food and delayed gastric emptying of the solid meal. With a test meal of turkey meat at least this dampened the plasma appearance of zinc but did not affect its overall absorption.
45 citations
[...]
TL;DR: The laboratory parameters currently considered to be the most useful indicators of marginal zinc deficiency are zinc-binding capacity and serum/plasma alkaline phosphatase activity before and after zinc supplementation (zinc tolerance test!).
Abstract: Though far more common, particularly in elderly people, than was previously assumed, marginal zinc deficiency does not lead to the classical manifestations of zinc deficiency and is therefore difficult to diagnose. There is therefore a need for sensitive parameters that can reliably demonstrate even marginal zinc deficiency, as suboptimal zinc status can seriously impair human health, performance, reproductive functions, and mental and physical development. The most important criteria for the diagnosis of zinc deficiency are critically discussed. The laboratory parameters currently considered to be the most useful indicators of marginal zinc deficiency are zinc-binding capacity and serum/plasma alkaline phosphatase activity before and after zinc supplementation (zinc tolerance test!). In order to obtain a reliable assessment of a patients zinc status, a number of different diagnostic parameters should always be measured.
44 citations
References
More filters
[...]
308 citations
[...]
TL;DR: The effects of a mild zinc-deficient state in humans were studied and four male volunteers received restricted zinc intake for several weeks under strict metabolic conditions to study the effects of this state in men.
Abstract: The effects of a mild zinc-deficient state in humans were studied. Four male volunteers received restricted zinc intake for several weeks under strict metabolic conditions. As a result of ...
251 citations
[...]
TL;DR: The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the clinical, bio chemical, and pharmacological role of zinc in human subjects.
Abstract: Although zinc had been known to be essential to the growth of microorgan isms for over one hundred years, it was not until 1934 that zinc was shown to be necessary for the growth and well-being of the rat (I, 2). Clinical manifestations in zinc-deficient animals include growth retardation, testicu lar atrophy, skin changes, and poor appetite. In 1961 , it was first suspected that zinc deficiency may occur in man (3); this was confirmed in 1963 (4-6). In studies from Iran (7, 8), it was clearly demonstrated that zinc is a principal limiting factor in the nutrition of children and adolescents and that this probably accounted for growth retar dation so commonly seen there. Recent reports indicate that marginal deficiency of zinc in man is proba bly widespread and common throughout the world including the USA (9, 10). It is also evident that not only nutritional deficiency but also condi tioned deficiency of zinc may complicate many diseased states. In recent years, many biochemical and physiological roles of zinc have been reported. The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the clinical, bio chemical, and pharmacological role of zinc in human subjects.
248 citations
Journal Article•
[...]
TL;DR: The review considers trace elements including fluorine, copper, manganese, zinc, cobalt, chromium, selenium, molybdenum, tin, vanadium, silicon, and nickel from the standpoint of their role as either inhibitory or causative agents of cancer.
Abstract: The review considers trace elements including fluorine, copper, manganese, zinc, cobalt, chromium, selenium, molybdenum, tin, vanadium, silicon, and nickel from the standpoint of their role as either inhibitory or causative agents of cancer and also the possible use of their assay in biological fluids as diagnostic or prognostic aids in patients with cancer
240 citations
[...]
TL;DR: The biological importance of zinc was first discovered when Raulin (1869) demonstrated that it was necessary for the growth of Aspergillus niger and a more profound deficiency state became apparent when Moyanhan and Barnes (1973) showed that treatment with zinc induced a complete and rapid clinical remission in a patient with acrodermatitis enteropathica.
Abstract: Even though brass, a zinc-copper alloy, had been known for centuries, metallic zinc was not isolated in Europe until 1509. The metal was then named zinken because of its superficial similarity to tin (German-zinn) (Wootton, 1910). Zinc (atomic number 30; atomic weight 65 37) has a completed d subshell with 2 s electrons and the divalent cation is the only naturally occurring oxidation state. This relative stability, its ability to co-ordinate 4 or occasionally 6 ligands, and its capacity to act as a Lewis acid are probably fundamental to zinc's biological role. The biological importance of zinc was first discovered when Raulin (1869) demonstrated that it was necessary for the growth of Aspergillus niger. Subsequently, the ubiquitous distribution of zinc in nature was appreciated and the essentiality of zinc for higher plants (Maze, 1914) and animals (Todd et al., 1934) was established. In man the medicinal use of calamine (zinc carbonate) is first recorded in Papyrus Ebers of 1550 BC (Ebers, 1937) but it was not until 1939 that it was suggested that zinc deficiency might contribute to the clinical manifestations of human vitamin deficiency syndromes such as beriberi (Eggleton, 1939). The first human zinc deficiency syndrome was identified in the early 1960s in malnourished adolescent boys in Iran and Egypt (Halsted et al., 1972). A more profound deficiency state became apparent when Moyanhan and Barnes (1973) showed that treatment with zinc induced a complete and rapid clinical remission in a patient with acrodermatitis enteropathica.
168 citations