Interest of zinc determination in leucocyte fractions for the assessment of marginal zinc status

Abstract

In order to test the sensitivity of leucocyte zinc determination in the assessment of zinc status, an isolation procedure of mononuclear (MNC) and polymorphonuclear (PMNC) cell fractions was developed. Zinc concentrations in cells from healthy subjects were (mean ± SD, in μmol/10 10 cells): 0.81 ± 0.24 in MNC and 0.55 ± 0.06 in PMNC. In patients suffering from several diseases known to be associated with a marginal impairment in zinc status (cirrhosis, cancer, obesity, endocrine and rheumatic diseases), these concentrations did not differ from those in controls except in rheumatic patients in whom MNC zinc was increased (1.05 ± 0.42 μmol/10 10 cells) and correlated with erythrocyte sedimentation rate ( r = 0.41, P < 0.01). This relation was also significant in the whole study population ( r = 0.39, P < 0.01). Leucocyte zinc therefore appears to have a limited value in the assessment of marginally impaired zinc status, except in inflammatory states.