Zinc deficiency causes

Zinc deficiency causes growth inhibition, depigmentation of dark hair, balding, corneous and thick epithelium and skin desquamation. Acute deficiencies of zinc lead to testicular atrophy and to sterility (Shils et ah, 1994). 

Rogers JM, Taubeneck MW, Daston GP, Sulik KK, Zucker RM, Elstein KH, Jankowski MA, Keen CL (1995) Zinc deficiency causes apoptosis but not cell cycle alterations in organogenesis-stage rat embryos effect of varying duration of deficiency. Teratology, 52(3) 149-159. 

Zinc is a trace element that plays a major role in the auxin metabolism and therefore in plant growth. Zinc deficiency causes a decrease in plant size, as well as a change in the arrangement and color of the leaves. It also leads to malformations in the root system. Zinc salts have antiseptic properties, so they are toxic. 

The role of zinc in the metabolism of glycosaminoglycans has been reported for normal and atheromatous rats. In general, zinc deficiency causes a... 

Zinc is the prosthetic group for many enzymes. It is also incorporated into the receptor proteins for steroid and thyroid hormones, calcitriol and vitamin A. Recommended daily intake of zinc is 10 mg/day. Zinc is found in all tissues of the body, but it is particularly high in the bone, liver and kidney. Zinc deficiency causes growth retardation, decreased wound healing and hypogonadism (i.e. much delayed puberty). It is only normally seen in populations whose diet is based on unleavened wholemeal bread, because wheat flour does not provide much zinc, and that which is available is bound to phytate. Phytate also inhibits the absorption of iron. Zinc depletion may also be caused by drugs such as thiazide and loop diuretics, and alcohol. Zinc deficiency can be successfully treated with replacement zinc therapy. 

It is known that zinc and cooper play an important role in immune system functioning (Kelley et al., 1995 Skalny and Rudakov, 2004 Zinc, 2001). Deficiency of these metals causes immune system dysfunctions. Recently these dysfunctions are seen to be widely distributed, especially in children. It is known also that sensitivity of the immune system to external influences differs in different age periods and it was found (Evstafyeva et al., 2002) that the influence of toxic metals is more significant in 7-11-year-old urbanized children. At the same time zinc and cooper deficiency was found in 1-6-year-old children, zinc deficiency and copper lowered contents, in... 

Human food, both plant and animal, usually contains satisfactory amounts of zinc to cover the requirement for this metal, which is present within the range of few to several pg per g of product. Zinc deficiencies are usually caused by a reduction of its absorption in the gastrointestinal tract rather than by its lack. Reduction in absorption may be caused by antagonistic activity of cadmium, calcium or phytates. A decrease in assimilation of zinc is also observed among alcoholics. 

A deficienqf of zinc in humans will retard growth, both physically and mentally, and contribute to anemia. It is present in many foods, particularly proteins (meat). A balanced diet provides an adequate amount of zinc. Not more than 50 milligrams per day of dietary zinc supplement should be taken, given that high levels of zinc in the body are toxic. Human bodies contain about two grams of zinc. A deficiency of zinc can cause a lack of taste and can delay growth as well as cause retardation in children. 

Zinc (Zn) deficiency is teratogenic in rats, and fetal skeletal defects are prominent. Embryofetal zinc deficiency secondary to changes induced by substances in maternal Zn metabolism is a well-established mechanism for developmental toxicity (29-31). Several substances, including urethane and alpha-hederin cause similar malformations as Zn deficiency in rodents. A number of mechanistic studies have shown that these substances act via an acute-phase reaction induction of metallothionein in the maternal liver which binds systemically available Zn in the pregnant animal. This results in a systemic redistribution of Zn. As a consequence the substances produce a transient but developmentally adverse Zn deficiency in the... 

Although a-D-mannosidase appears to be under endocrine control,28,28 its natural function remains obscure. It is probable that the enzyme is important in the catabolism of D-mannose-containing glycoproteins,12,16,88 and, therefore, that the important trace element zinc could be indirectly implicated in this process. It is well known that zinc deficiency has an adverse effect on fertility in the male,89,90 and it could be argued that the changes observed in a-D-mannosidase activity in uterus and epididymis indicate that this enzyme is important in reproduction. It is scarcely justifiable to ascribe a cause-and-effect relationship to the correlations observed between the zinc content and the a-D-mannosidase activity in epididymis. All that can be said with any certainty is that, under certain circumstances, the two variables respond together to a common stimulus. 

Zinc Essential to all organisms used jo >70 enzymes aa-bilizes coiled ribosomes. Flays a role in sexual maturation and reproduction. U.S. population marginally deficient. Moderately to slightly toxic orally causes vomiting and diarrhea/ Pollution from industrial smoke may cause lung disease use of zinc promotes cadmium pollution. Certain areas (e.g., Iran and Egypt) are zinc deficient."... 

The numerous causes of human zinc deficiency, and conditions in which it exists, have been summarized by Prasad.50 52 They include nutrition (inadequate diet), excessive alcohol ingestion, liver disease, gastrointestinal disorders (such as Crohn s disease), neoplastic diseases (conditioned... 

Schnetder, E., and C. A. Price Decreased RNA levels possible cause of growth inhibition in zinc deficiency. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 55, 406 (1962). 

Care should be taken in automatically attributing low plasma-zinc values to zinc deficiency. As with calcium a major proportion of plasma zinc is attached to albumin and a reduction in plasma albumin will cause a reduction in total zinc values. In chronic diseases total zinc and albumin show a close relationship [44] and it is perhaps for these reasons that so many diseases are found to be associated with a reduced total plasma zinc. At present it is not clear which is the most important fraction of plasma zinc and consequently it is not justifiable to make any correction for protein alteration as has been suggested for calcium. 

Long-standing nutritional zinc deficiency has been reported to cause primary hypogonadism in human subjects (, 2. Deficiency of zinc occurring in association with certain diseases has also been reported to affect adversely testicular function ( ). 

While zinc deficiency syndromes have been known for many years, and their prevalance noted in diverse groups of people world wide, only recently have any identifiable patterns of some of these syndromes been formulated and the underlying mechanisms stated, however tentatively. These syndromes can be complex, present both in children and adults of both sexes and include single or multiple organ systems. These complexities can cause difficulty for both patients and physicians seeking an understanding of these processes. 

Almost all the evidence showing that phytate decreases zinc absorption in man and animals is based on pure phytate added to the diet. The effect of natural phytate is variable (18). It has, however, been reported that phytate in bran affected zinc bioavailability in the same way as sodium phytate (19). Dietary fibre in the rural Iranian diet was considered to be the main cause of zinc deficiency in Iran (20). However, the addition of 26 g of fibre from various sources to the American diet did not have any significant effect on the zinc requirements of male adults (21). Similarly, Indian men consuming a diet containing only 10.8 mg of zinc were reported to be in balance in spite of a dietary fibre intake of 50 g per day (22). Moreover, the presence of fibre and phytate in soy flour did not affect the bioavailability of zinc added as zinc carbonate, to the diet of rats (17), although others (23) have reported that the bioavailability of zinc in breakfast cereals depends mainly on their phytate-zinc molar ratio. Our results indicate that there is some, as yet, undetermined difference in the phytate or the fibre of cereals which affects the bioavailability of zinc. It may be some component of dietary fibre (24) or the intrinsic differences in the protein-phytate-mineral complex (10). 

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