Ananda prasad
Wayne State University School of Medicine, USA
Title: Discovery and Impact of Zinc on Health: Bio-markers of Zinc Deficiency
Biography
Biography: Ananda prasad
Abstract
In the Middle East nearly 50 years ago we established the essentiality of zinc for human and documented for the first time occurrence of zinc deficiency in the villages of Iran and Egypt. During the past five decades we have witnessed tremendous advances in both clinical and basic science areas of zinc metabolism. Currently WHO estimates that nearly 2 billion subjects in the developing countries are zinc deficient and widespread growth retardation, immune dysfunction and cognitive impairment are related to zinc deficiency. Therapeutic use of zinc for treatment of acute diarrhea in infants and children in developing countries has saved millions of lives. Zinc is very effective in reducing the incidences of blindness in patients with age related macular degeneration (AMD). Zinc is an approved therapy for patients with Wilson’s disease. Zinc administration is effective in decreasing the incidences of infection in the elderly, patients with sickle cell disease and head and neck cancer patients. Zinc is a molecular signal for immune and neuronal cells. In our experimental model of human zinc deficiency we reported that measurement of zinc and ecto 5’ nucleotidase in lymphocytes, are sensitive indicators of zinc deficiency. Serum active thymulin and generation of Th1 cytokines, IL-2 and IFN-γ and their mRNAs are most sensitive indicators of acute zinc deficiency. We have now established a new method of zinc assay in nails and plasma by LIBS (laser induced background spectroscopy) technique which is simple, exportable and cost effective and is an excellent indictor of chronic human zinc deficiency.