Dietary Zinc and Human Health

Dear Colleagues,

Zinc is essential for normal growth and development in all animals. It is only 50 years since zinc was shown to be essential to humans and its role in reducing mortality and morbidity from lower respiratory tract infections and acute and chronic diarrhea in developing countries.

However, there remain many gaps in our clinical knowledge, in part due to the lack of reliable, reproducible assessments of zinc status/zinc adequacy in individuals. Questions remain about the optimum levels of zinc intake in humans, especially children, and most especially in preterm or human-milk fed infants. Zinc’s role in other infectious diseases, such as the common cold, HIV/AIDS in critical care and in failure to thrive, remains unclear. In addition, the interactions between zinc and other minerals (such as copper) require more study.

In recent years, the understanding of the cellular mechanisms underlying zinc absorption, transport and partitioning have increased greatly. However, this basic knowledge is still poorly reflected in the larger scope of zinc's clinical role in health and disease.

Dr. Ian J. Griffin
Guest Editor

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