Abstract
The essential role of zinc in human health was first suggested by our studies in growth-retarded Iranian villagers in 1961. Our later studies in 1963 established conclusively that zinc was essential for human and that zinc deficiency resulted in severe growth retardation, hypogonadism in males, immune dysfunctions, and cognitive function impairment. The suggestion that zinc was an essential element for humans remained very controversial, but in 1974, the USA National Academy of Sciences declared zinc as an essential element for humans and established the recommended dietary allowances. In 1978, the FDA and other regulatory agencies made it mandatory to include zinc in total parenteral nutrition fluids, which resulted in saving many lives. During the past five decades, tremendous progress has been made in the understanding of the biochemical role of zinc, and we now know that zinc therapy has impacted significantly on human health and diseases. In this review, I plan to present a brief historical review of the discovery of zinc as an essential element for humans, the clinical manifestations of zinc deficiency, its therapeutic impact on human health and diseases, biomarkers of human zinc deficiency, and its biochemical role.
Highlights
186 Personalized Medicine, in Relation to Redox State, Diet and Lifestyle physicians in clinical medicine and in basic sciences so that the clinical scientists could investigate the bedside clinical problems in research laboratories and to understand the basic mechanisms involved in clinical disorders [1–4]
Our studies in Egypt later documented that zinc deficiency occurred in humans and that zinc supplementation resulted in 5–6 in. of longitudinal growth in 1 year and the genitalia became normal within 3–6 months of zinc supplementation [5]
We have previously reported a new mutation in exon 3 of the SCL39A4 gene in a Tunisian family with severe acrodermatitis enteropathica (AE) [14], and recently we have observed two new mutations, one in a United Arab Emirate (UAE) family, which showed a mutation in exon 7, Gly 409→Arg, and the other in a patient from Turkey, which showed the mutation in exon 7 Leu 415→Pro
Summary
In 1869, Raulin [1] reported for the first time that zinc was essential for the growth of Aspergillus niger. I received my training in medicine as a clinical scientist under Professor Cecil James Watson at the University of Minnesota Medical School. The story of zinc began when an Iranian physician presented to me a severely anemic 21-year-old male, who looked like a 10-year-old boy, at the medical school grand round. He ate only bread made of whole wheat flour, he had no intake of animal protein, and in addition he ate 1 pound of clay every day His severe anemia was due to iron deficiency but he had no blood loss. The details of circumstances leading to the discovery of human zinc deficiency have been published recently [6]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 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.
