In mice, zinc improves regeneration of key immune organ and immune-cell recovery after bone marrow transplant

Medical Xpress / Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center / Blood / Leukemia Research ^ | Mar. 31, 2022 | Sabrina Richards / Lorenzo Iovino et al

[ConservativeMind]

Zinc's immune-boosting properties are well-established, but we're still untangling how it works. The team discovered that zinc is required for development of a specialized type of immune cell and prompts a critical immune organ to regenerate after damage.

People whose zinc levels are too low have little to no infection-fighting T cells and the thymus, the organ in which T cells develop, is nearly non-existent, Iovino said. When zinc-deficient people are given extra zinc, their thymuses grow and start pumping out these immune cells.

The thymus is quite delicate. Many stressors cause it to shrink and its T-cell production to plummet.

But the thymus is also resilient. After acute injury, it turns on processes that help it regenerate, regrow and begin producing new T cells again.

Zinc is critical for T-cell development and thymic regeneration

As in humans, Iovino and Dudakov found that the thymuses of mice deprived of dietary zinc shrink and produce notably fewer mature T cells, even after as little as three weeks of a no-zinc diet. Iovino was able to show that without zinc, T cells cannot fully mature.

He also found that zinc deficiency slows recovery of T-cell numbers after mice receive immune-destroying treatments akin to those given to patients about to receive a blood stem cell transplant.

"What we think is going on is, as you give zinc supplementation, that gets accumulated within the [developing T cells]. It gets stored and stored and stored, then the damage comes along and the zinc is released," Dudakov said. "Now you have more zinc than you normally would, and it can instigate this regenerative pathway.

Evidence also suggests that injury to the thymus may play a role in graft-vs.-host disease. Dudakov hopes a treatment that helps heal the thymus could also help alleviate this condition.

[ConservativeMind]

It’s encouraging to note the thymus can grow back and perform its duties, when properly cared for.

The Upper Tolerable Limit is 40 mg/day, however, people taking AREDS formula for their eyes get nearly double this, but copper deficiencies become notable starting by the two-year point (zinc counters copper in the body).

A prior study showed zinc picolinate was much better and more quickly absorbed into organs than was zinc citrate or zinc gluconate.

[ConservativeMind]

The “Take Charge Of Your Health” Ping List

This potentially high volume ping list is for health articles and studies which describe something you or your doctor, when informed, may be able to implement for your benefit.

Now keeping a new list (“Common/Top Issues”) for conditions expected to only concern at least 1% of the population. Ask to be on either the “Common/Top Issues” or “Everything” list.

Please email or private message me if you want on or off of a list and of which list you desire.

[ConservativeMind]

Comparative absorption of zinc picolinate, zinc citrate and zinc gluconate in humans

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3630857/

[HighSierra5]

I don’t know if it made a difference but when I had covid 19-84 last October, the only thing I could down was orange juice with zinc and more vitamin C.

[rightwingcrazy]

I wonder if, after many decades of medical experimentation on mice, we’re in a position to improve substantially the lives and lifespans of mice.