2021/07/13 by Inga Wessels, Inga Weßels, Henrike Josephine Fischer +2 · 3 citations
Nursing · Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Environmental Science · #Trace Elements in Health #Aluminum toxicity and tolerance in plants and animals #Heavy Metal Exposure and Toxicity
paper · doi:10.1146/annurev-nutr-122019-120635
Evidence for the importance of zinc for all immune cells and for mounting an efficient and balanced immune response to various environmental stressors has been accumulating in recent years. This article describes the role of zinc in fundamental biological processes and summarizes our current knowledge of zinc's effect on hematopoiesis, including differentiation into immune cell subtypes. In addition, the important role of zinc during activation and function of immune cells is detailed and associated with the specific immune responses to bacteria, parasites, and viruses. The association of zinc with autoimmune reactions and cancers as diseases with increased or decreased immune responses is also discussed. This article provides a broad overview of the manifold roles that zinc, or its deficiency, plays in physiology and during various diseases. Consequently, we discuss why zinc supplementation should be considered, especially for people at risk of deficiency.