Clinical Information

Zinc is an essential element; it is a critical cofactor for carbonic anhydrase, alkaline phosphatase, RNA and DNA polymerases, alcohol dehydrogenase, and many other physiologically important proteins. Zinc also is a key element required for active wound healing.

Zinc depletion occurs either because it is not absorbed from the diet or it is lost after absorption. Dietary deficiency may be due to absence (parenteral nutrition) or because the zinc in the diet is bound to fiber and not available for absorption. Once absorbed, the most common route of loss is via exudates from open wounds such as third-degree burns or gastrointestinal loss as in colitis. Hepatic cirrhosis also causes excess loss of zinc by enhancing renal excretion. The peptidase, kinase, and phosphorylase enzymes are most sensitive to zinc depletion.

Zinc excess is not of major clinical concern. The popular American habit of taking mega-vitamins (containing huge doses of zinc) produces no direct toxicity problems. Much of this zinc passes through the gastrointestinal tract and is excreted in the feces. The excess fraction that is absorbed is excreted in the urine. The only known effect of excessive zinc ingestion relates to the fact that zinc interferes with copper absorption, which can lead to hypocupremia.