Zinc may help activate T-cells

GAINESVILLE, Fla., July 31 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say zinc helps activate T-cells -- the cells responsible for fighting infections.

The report, published in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology, suggests zinc increases activation of the T-cells responsible for destroying viruses and bacteria.

"It has been shown that zinc supplementation significantly reduces the duration and severity of childhood diarrhea, lower respiratory infections and incidence of malaria in zinc-deficient children," co-author Robert Cousins of the University of Florida in Gainesville, Fla., says in a statement.

"Age-related declines in immune function have also been related to zinc deficiency in the elderly."

Cousins reports healthy volunteers were administered either a zinc supplement or a placebo. The scientists isolated their T-cells from their blood and exposed them to simulated infection in laboratory conditions. T-cells taken from the zinc-supplemented group had higher activation than those from the placebo group. In turn, cell activation seemed to stimulate the zinc transporter in T-cells -- called ZIP8 -- which transported stored zinc into the cell cytoplasm where it then altered the expression of a T-cell protein in a way needed to fight infections.