The usefulness of zinc administration and the importance of measuring serum zinc concentrations

Abstract

Zinc is an essential trace element that plays various and pivotal roles in the human body. Therefore, zinc homeostasis is tightly regulated by ion channels and zinc transporters, including the Zrt-Irt-like protein (ZIP) and zinc transporter (ZnT) families. Disrupting this zinc homeostasis often causes zinc deficiency in various diseases (e.g., liver cirrhosis, chronic renal diseases, and inflammatory bowel diseases) and contributes to the underlying pathological conditions. Although the amount of zinc in the serum accounts for only approximately 0.1% of the total zinc in the body, this serum concentration is usually measured and analyzed in these diseases. Measuring the serum concentration is the only way to assess pathological conditions and evaluate the effect of zinc treatment when specific symptoms are not observed. For liver diseases, zinc concentrations decrease with the progression of fibrosis in patients with chronic liver diseases (CLDs); thus, many investigators treat these patients with zinc preparations. Supplementation with zinc for not only a short time but also a long time was effective, and the zinc serum concentration is a useful index for achieving good prognosis. Several studies revealed that it is important to maintain a serum zinc concentration of more than 70 mg/dl after zinc supplementation, and a quantity of zinc of approximately 90 mg/day is needed in patients with liver cirrhosis.

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