Abstract
Six healthy young men participated in a confined zinc depletion-repletion study which lasted 10 to 11 wk. The depletion period varied from 4 to 9 wk during which the subjects consumed a semipurified formula diet supplying 0.28 mg zinc/day. During a 1-wk initial baseline period, 15.7 mg of zinc as ZnSO4 were fed; 6.0, 23.2, or 46.3 mg of zinc were given during a brief repletion period for three of the men. Plasma, whole blood, urinary, fecal, and seminal zinc decreased significantly by the end of the depletion period. Erythrocyte, saliva, and hair zinc did not change. Plasma and urinary zinc levels were highly correlated when urinary zinc was 150 µg/day or more. In five of six subjects a drop in urinary zinc to below 150 µg/day was noted before a decrease in plasma zinc to less than 70 µg/100 g, indicating that urinary zinc responds more rapidly than plasma zinc to dietary changes and may be useful for evaluating zinc nutriture. The endogenous zinc loss averaged 2.2 mg/day; addition of the loss occasioned by one seminal emission would bring the total to 2.8 mg/day.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
