ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the effects of zinc deficiency on the immune system, with particular emphasis on the perinatal period; potential mechanisms which may underlie these effects, and evidence that zinc deficiency also occurs in humans and is responsible for some immune defects. Experimental studies using adult animal models have linked inadequate zinc intake to abnormal immune function. The immune organs were altered to the greatest extent; the thymus was markedly involuted, and the spleen was much smaller than in controls. Organ weights are best expressed as a percent of total body weight, particularly when overall growth is decreased; however, even expressed relative to body weight, the immune organs were proportionately smaller in size than either control, restricted-fed organ weights. Quantifying immune proteins such as serum immunoglobulins is a direct method of measuring the effect of zinc deficiency in vivo. Zinc deficiency that occurs in utero in mice has effects on the immune system similar to those of early postnatal deprivation.
