Zinc supplementation of young men alters metallothionein, zinc transporter, and cytokine gene expression in leukocyte populations.

ABSTRACT: An effective measure to assess zinc status of humans has remained elusive, in contrast to iron, where a number of indicators of metabolism/function are available. Using monocytes, T lymphocytes, and granulocytes isolated by magnetic sorting and dried blood spots (DBS) derived from 50 mul of peripheral blood, we evaluated the response of metallothionein (MT), zinc transporter, and cytokine genes to a modest (15 mg of Zn per day) dietary zinc supplement in human subjects. Transcript abundance was measured by quantitative real-time RT-PCR (QRT-PCR). Zinc supplementation increased MT mRNA abundance by up to 2-fold in RNA from leukocyte subsets, and 4-fold in RNA from DBS. Transcript levels for the zinc transporter genes ZnT1 and Zip3 were increased and decreased, respectively, by zinc suppleme

SUBMITTER: Aydemir TB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1413653 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature