Zinc deficiency recognition

One of the most important discoveries concerning the biological role of zinc occurred in 1940 when Keilin and Mann showed that zinc is an essential compound of erythrocyte carbonic anhydrase, an enzyme cata-lytically involved in the transport of CO2 in blood (6). Following the 70-year interval between the initial recognition of a metabolic zinc deficiency and the characterization of the first zinc metalloenzyme, there was a period of about 15 years before the second zinc enzyme was identified. In 1955, Vallee and Neurath reported that carboxypeptidase A from bovine pancreas contained 1 g-atom Zn per mol of protein and was essential to the function of the enzyme (7). The presence of zinc in carbonic anhydrase and carboxypeptidase A indicated that a primary role of zinc would be to function in zinc metalloenzymes (62). However, it seemed unhkely that disrupting the activity of carboxypeptidase A or carbonic anhydrase would have profound eflFects on growth. 

The recognition of zinc deficiency as an important contributor to the high rates of morbidity, mortality, and delayed growth and development among children is relatively recent in contrast to the earlier recognition of the importance and widespread occurrence of deficiencies of iodine, vitamin A, and iron. Coordinated efforts to address vitamin A deficiency in less developed countries were formally... 

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