The effects of diet and zinc treatment on the fatty acid composition of serum lipids and adipose tissue and on serum lipoproteins in two adolescent patients with acrodermatitis enteropathica.

In two adolescent patients with acrodermatitis enteropathica fatty acid spectra in serum lipids and adipose tissue and serum lipoprotein concentrations were followed for about 7 yr. One patient was treated by diet and iv infusions of high amounts of linoleic acid and later by different doses of zinc. The other boy was given only varying doses of zinc. Extra supply of linoleic acid raised its concentrations in serum triglycerides, cholesterol esters, phospholipids, and adipose tissue lipids from low to normal or high levels. In both patients linoleic acid in serum lipids was sensible to the dose of zinc, decreasing when it was low and increasing when it was high. Serum triglycerides increased when the supply was low and was normalized when high doses were given. High-density lipoprotein cholesterol, however, remained low throughout the study. We conclude that in acrodermatitis enteropathica zinc thus seems to be of importance in regulating linoleic acid and serum lipoprotein metabolism.