Crosstalk between Zinc Status and Giardia Infection: A New Approach

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Abstract

Zinc supplementation has been shown to reduce the incidence and prevalence of diarrhea; however, its anti-diarrheal effect remains only partially understood. There is now growing evidence that zinc can have pathogen-specific protective effects. Giardiasis is a common yet neglected cause of acute-chronic diarrheal illness worldwide which causes disturbances in zinc metabolism of infected children, representing a risk factor for zinc deficiency. How zinc metabolism is compromised by Giardia is not well understood; zinc status could be altered by intestinal malabsorption, organ redistribution or host-pathogen competition. The potential metal-binding properties of Giardia suggest unusual ways that the parasite may interact with its host. Zinc supplementation was recently found to reduce the rate of diarrhea caused by Giardia in children and to upregulate humoral immune response in Giardia-infected mice; in vitro and in vivo, zinc-salts enhanced the activity of bacitracin in a zinc-dose-dependent way, and this was not due to zinc toxicity. These findings reflect biological effect of zinc that may impact significantly public health in endemic areas of infection. In this paper, we shall explore one direction of this complex interaction, discussing recent information regarding zinc status and its possible contribution to the outcome of the encounter between the host and Giardia.

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Estimating the Global Prevalence of Zinc Deficiency: Results Based on Zinc Availability in National Food Supplies and the Prevalence of Stunting

K. Ryan Wessells, Kenneth H. Brown (2013)

Background Adequate zinc nutrition is essential for adequate growth, immunocompetence and neurobehavioral development, but limited information on population zinc status hinders the expansion of interventions to control zinc deficiency. The present analyses were conducted to: (1) estimate the country-specific prevalence of inadequate zinc intake; and (2) investigate relationships between country-specific estimated prevalence of dietary zinc inadequacy and dietary patterns and stunting prevalence. Methodology and Principal Findings National food balance sheet data were obtained from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Country-specific estimated prevalence of inadequate zinc intake were calculated based on the estimated absorbable zinc content of the national food supply, International Zinc Nutrition Consultative Group estimated physiological requirements for absorbed zinc, and demographic data obtained from United Nations estimates. Stunting data were obtained from a recent systematic analysis based on World Health Organization growth standards. An estimated 17.3% of the world’s population is at risk of inadequate zinc intake. Country-specific estimated prevalence of inadequate zinc intake was negatively correlated with the total energy and zinc contents of the national food supply and the percent of zinc obtained from animal source foods, and positively correlated with the phytate: zinc molar ratio of the food supply. The estimated prevalence of inadequate zinc intake was correlated with the prevalence of stunting (low height-for-age) in children under five years of age (r = 0.48, P<0.001). Conclusions and Significance These results, which indicate that inadequate dietary zinc intake may be fairly common, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, allow inter-country comparisons regarding the relative likelihood of zinc deficiency as a public health problem. Data from these analyses should be used to determine the need for direct biochemical and dietary assessments of population zinc status, as part of nationally representative nutritional surveys targeting countries estimated to be at high risk.

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Zinc and immune function: the biological basis of altered resistance to infection.

A. H. Shankar, A. Prasad (1998)

Zinc is known to play a central role in the immune system, and zinc-deficient persons experience increased susceptibility to a variety of pathogens. The immunologic mechanisms whereby zinc modulates increased susceptibility to infection have been studied for several decades. It is clear that zinc affects multiple aspects of the immune system, from the barrier of the skin to gene regulation within lymphocytes. Zinc is crucial for normal development and function of cells mediating nonspecific immunity such as neutrophils and natural killer cells. Zinc deficiency also affects development of acquired immunity by preventing both the outgrowth and certain functions of T lymphocytes such as activation, Th1 cytokine production, and B lymphocyte help. Likewise, B lymphocyte development and antibody production, particularly immunoglobulin G, is compromised. The macrophage, a pivotal cell in many immunologic functions, is adversely affected by zinc deficiency, which can dysregulate intracellular killing, cytokine production, and phagocytosis. The effects of zinc on these key immunologic mediators is rooted in the myriad roles for zinc in basic cellular functions such as DNA replication, RNA transcription, cell division, and cell activation. Apoptosis is potentiated by zinc deficiency. Zinc also functions as an antioxidant and can stabilize membranes. This review explores these aspects of zinc biology of the immune system and attempts to provide a biological basis for the altered host resistance to infections observed during zinc deficiency and supplementation.

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Zinc and its role in immunity and inflammation.

Paola Bonaventura, Giulia Benedetti, Francis Albarède … (2015)

Zinc (Zn) nutritional importance has been known for a long time, but in the last decades its importance in immune modulation has arisen. This review aims at describing the mechanisms involved in the regulation of Zn homeostasis and their effects on the immune response focusing on those which are implicated in the physiopathology of rheumatoid arthritis. Zn functions as a modulator of the immune response through its availability, which is tightly regulated by several transporters and regulators. When this mechanism is disturbed, Zn availability is reduced, altering survival, proliferation and differentiation of the cells of different organs and systems and, in particular, cells of the immune system. Zn deficiency affects cells involved in both innate and adaptive immunity at the survival, proliferation and maturation levels. These cells include monocytes, polymorphonuclear-, natural killer-, T-, and B-cells. T cell functions and the balance between the different T helper cell subsets are particularly susceptible to changes in Zn status. While acute Zn deficiency causes a decrease in innate and adaptive immunity, chronic deficiency increases inflammation. During chronic deficiency, the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines increases, influencing the outcome of a large number of inflammatory diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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Journal ID (nlm-ta): Nutrients

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Nutrients

Journal ID (publisher-id): nutrients

Title: Nutrients

Publisher: MDPI

ISSN (Electronic): 2072-6643

Publication date (Electronic): 03 June 2015

Publication date Collection: June 2015

Volume: 7

Issue: 6

Pages: 4438-4452

Affiliations

[1 ]Departamento de Nutrición y Metabolismo, Coordinación de Nutrición, Centro de Investigación en Alimentación y Desarrollo, A.C. Carretera a La Victoria Km 0.6, Hermosillo, Sonora, CP 83304, Mexico; E-Mails: gemma@ 123456estudiantes.ciad.mx (G.I.-F.); ivan.anduro@ 123456ciad.mx (I.A.-C.)

[2 ]Departamento de Nutrición Pública y Salud, Coordinación de Nutrición, Centro de Investigación en Alimentación y Desarrollo, A.C. Carretera a La Victoria Km 0.6, Hermosillo, Sonora, C.P. 83304, Mexico; E-Mail: lquihui@ 123456ciad.mx

Author notes

[†]

These authors contributed equally to this work.

[* ]Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: hastiazaran@ 123456ciad.mx ; Tel.: +52-662-289-24-00 (ext. 287); Fax: +52-662-280-00-94.

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Publisher ID: nutrients-07-04438

DOI: 10.3390/nu7064438

PMC ID: 4488794

PubMed ID: 26046395

SO-VID: b2d57290-5d20-48e0-86c7-a3f5a19f81d1

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This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Crosstalk between Zinc Status and Giardia Infection: A New Approach

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Karger: Nutrition and Dietetics

Most cited references 94

Estimating the Global Prevalence of Zinc Deficiency: Results Based on Zinc Availability in National Food Supplies and the Prevalence of Stunting

Zinc and immune function: the biological basis of altered resistance to infection.

Zinc and its role in immunity and inflammation.

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