Effect of inflammatory agents and interleukin 1 on iron and zinc metabolism.

Injection of either sheep red blood cells (SRBC), Escherichia coli, endotoxin, starch, or Sephadex into chicks significantly decreased plasma iron and zinc concentrations. After injection of E. coli or SRBC, plasma zinc was decreased maximally by 52% at 12 h and 15.7% at 48 h, respectively. A second exposure to SRBC or E. coli did not further decrease plasma iron or zinc. Injection of a crude preparation of interleukin 1 isolated from endotoxin-stimulated peritoneal monocytes induced hypozincemia, hypoferremia, increased the concentration of liver metallothionein, and increased liver-zinc concentrations. It is proposed that interleukin 1 mediates the changes in trace mineral metabolism that occur during inflammation and that loss of zinc from plasma is due in part to a sequestration of zinc by liver.