Wayne State University School of Medicine, 1122 Elliman Bldg., 421 East Canfield, Detroit, MI 48201, USA.
J Am Coll Nutr. 2009 Jun;28(3):257-65. doi: 10.1080/07315724.2009.10719780.
The essentiality of zinc was recognized 46 years ago. Zinc deficiency resulting in growth retardation, hypogonadism, immune dysfunction and cognitive impairment affects nearly 2 billion subjects in the developing world. High phytate content of the cereal proteins consumed in the developing world, results in decreased availability of zinc for absorption. Zinc therapy has been very successful and life saving measure in patients with acrodermatitis enteropathica and Wilson's disease. Beneficial therapeutic responses of zinc supplementation have been ovserved in acute diarrhea in children, chronic hepatitis C, shigellosis, leprosy, leishmaniasis, and common cold. Zinc supplementation was effective in decreasing incidences of infection in elderly and patients with sickle cell disease. Zinc supplementation was effective in preventing blindness in 25% of the elderly with dry type of age related macular degeneration. Zinc supplementation in the elderly decreased oxidative stress and decreased generation of inflammatory cytokines. Zinc is an intracellular signaling molecule in monocytes, dendritic cells and macrophages and it plays an important role in cell-mediated immune functions and oxidative stress. Zinc is also an anti-inflammatory agent. These unique properties of zinc may have significant therapeutic benefits in several diseases in humans. In many diseases concurrent zinc deficiency may complicate the clinical features, affect adversely immunological status, increase oxidative stress and increase generation of inflammatory cytokines. Oxidative stress and chronic inflammation may play important causative roles in many chronic diseases, including atherosclerosis, several malignancies, neurological disorders, and auto-immune diseases. It is therefore, important that status of zinc is assessed and zinc deficiency corrected in these chronic diseases. A controlled clinical trial of zinc supplementation in these disorders in order to document the preventive and therapeutic effects of zinc is warranted.
锌的重要性在 46 年前就已被认识到。发展中国家约有 20 亿人口因缺锌而导致生长迟缓、性腺功能减退、免疫功能障碍和认知障碍。发展中国家食用的谷物蛋白中植酸含量较高，导致锌的吸收率降低。锌疗法在肠病性肢端皮炎和威尔逊病患者中是一种非常成功和救命的措施。在儿童急性腹泻、慢性丙型肝炎、志贺氏菌病、麻风病、利什曼病和普通感冒中，补锌补充剂均观察到有益的治疗反应。补锌补充剂可有效降低老年人和镰状细胞病患者的感染发生率。补锌补充剂可有效预防 25%干性年龄相关性黄斑变性的老年人失明。补锌补充剂可降低老年人的氧化应激和炎症细胞因子的产生。锌是单核细胞、树突状细胞和巨噬细胞中的细胞内信号分子，在细胞介导的免疫功能和氧化应激中发挥重要作用。锌也是一种抗炎剂。锌的这些独特特性可能对人类的几种疾病具有重要的治疗益处。在许多疾病中，同时存在的锌缺乏可能会使临床特征复杂化，影响免疫状态，增加氧化应激和炎症细胞因子的产生。氧化应激和慢性炎症可能在许多慢性疾病中发挥重要的致病作用，包括动脉粥样硬化、多种恶性肿瘤、神经紊乱和自身免疫性疾病。因此，在这些慢性疾病中评估锌的状态并纠正锌缺乏症非常重要。有必要进行锌补充剂治疗这些疾病的对照临床试验，以记录锌的预防和治疗作用。
