Mg Of Elemental Zinc Research Articles

Zinc deficiency in man: The Shiraz experiment

Zinc deficiency associated with nutritional dwarfism was reported from Egypt in 1963. The conclusions drawn from that study were based on biochemical changes in zinc metabolism plus zinc supplementation studies. The dwarfs were of varying ages and were affected in varying degrees of severity. This syndrome, which is common in the Middle East, has been extensively investigated in Iran where its clinical features were reported in detail in 1961. Our study was designed prospectively to give oral zinc supplementation under controlled conditions. A major factor in the etiology of this syndrome is the village diet which consists largely, and sometimes exclusively, of whole meal wheat bread. This contains a high level of phytate which binds zinc and makes it unavailable. Geophagia, which was present in all subjects, may be a factor in the pathogenesis. The subjects of this report are fifteen men who were rejected at the Iranian Army induction center because of “malnutrition,” and two women. A unique feature was that all were nineteen or twenty years of age. They were studied for six to twelve months. One group was given a well-balanced nutritious diet containing ample animal protein plus a placebo capsule. A second group was given the same diet plus a capsule of zinc sulfate daily containing 27 mg of elemental zinc. A third group was given the diet alone without additional medication for six months, followed by the diet plus the administration of zinc sulfate. Assignment to groups was by random selection. Although the development in subjects receiving the diet alone was slow, the effect on height increment and onset of sexual function was strikingly enhanced in those receiving zinc capsules as a supplement. The differences were significant statistically (p < 0.01 for height increment and p < 0.001 for time of onset of sexual function).