Mineral element correlation with adenohypophyseal-adrenal cortex function and stress.

A statistical correlationl was made between adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) and four elements in rats under control, stress, and stress-recovery conditions. Blood serum zinc showed a strong positive correlation with the rise in ACTH during stress and its decline in stress recovery. Serum calcium, copper, and magnesium demonstrated little correlation with ACTH changes. The strong ACTH-zinc correlation points to an as yet undefined interaction between ACTH and zinc

Cerebrospinal fluid trace element content in dementia: clinical, radiologic, and pathologic correlations.

Using inductively coupled argon plasma emission spectroscopy, we measured 19 trace elements in cerebrospinal fluid of 265 patients who were undergoing diagnostic lumbar puncture. Thirty-three patients had Alzheimer-type dementia (ATD); 16 patients had other dementing illnesses; and 20 had no neurologic disease. There were seven cases of autopsy-proven Alzheimer's disease (AD) and eight autopsy controls. We found elevated CSF silicon in 24% of ATD and 71% of AD patients. We found no relationship between CSF aluminum, arsenic, lead, or manganese and ATD, AD, or other dementing illnesses.

Silicon as a potential uremic neurotoxin: trace element analysis in patients with renal failure.

We analyzed multiple trace elements in tap water, dialysis fluids, and CSF of patients on dialysis and with chronic renal insufficiency. Before placement of a deionizer in the dialysis unit, we found elevated levels of aluminum, barium, copper, silicon, and zinc in tap water and dialysis fluids. These were corrected by the deionizer. CSF silicon content was increased in patients with chronic renal insufficiency and on dialysis; CSF aluminum, barium, copper, and zinc were normal.

Mineral metabolism of the healing arterial wall.

The mineral metabolism of healing arterial walls was studied by measuring the accumulation of several radioisotopes at the site of vascular repair in rats. Each rat was subjected to a 1-cm full-thickness aortotomy and then immediately injected by tail vein with c 5 muCi of one of the following radioisotopes: chromic chloride Cr 51 or sodium chromate Cr 51; ferrous chloride Fe 59 or ferric chloride Fe 59; manganous chloride Mn 54; selenious acid Se 75; strontium chloride Sr 85; or zinc chloride Zn 65. At intervals of 1, 2, 4, 6, and 10 days after operation and injection, groups of four rats for each radioisotope were killed, aortas dissected, and the specific radioactivity of healing vascular tissue compared with that of adjacent normal artery. There were sharp and statistically significant differences in the preferential accumulation of the radioisotopes in healing compared with normal aorta. Zinc appeared to be the element most involved in vascular repair, followed by selenium and chromium.

Gluconate zinc in acrodermatitis enteropathica.

Two children with characteristic findings of acrodermatitis enteropathica were found to have low serum zinc levels prior to therapy. Treatment with zinc gluconate in low dosages resulted in an increase in serum zinc levels and clinical improvement. All family members studied had low serum zinc levels. In addition, we noted a change of hair color to red and excessive drooling just prior to exacerbations in these two patients. The hair color returned to normal with remission.

Implications of the inhibition of animal tumors by dietary zinc deficiency.

Because zinc is an essential nutrient for tissue growth, cellular division, protein synthesis, and DNA and RNA replication, it also ought to play a critical role in the growth of tumors. To test this thesis, a series of experiments were performed to test the effect of zinc deficiency on the lethality of a variety of solid and ascites tumors in mice and rats. Specifically, the following models were tested: Walker 256 carcinosarcomas, solid and ascites forms in rats; three mouse leukemias (L5178yf, L1210, and P388) in CDF, male mice; and Lewis lung carcinoma in C57BI/6 male mice. Rats receiving a zinc-deficient diet showed marked reduction of tumor growth, both of solid or ascites models, and this was accompanied by striking increase in survival. Survival of mice with transplanted leukemia was also significantly prolonged by zinc deficiency. In addition, growth of the Lewis lung carcinoma was inhibited, but the survival through increased, was probably limited by the adverse effects of zinc deficiency. The results suggest that tumor inhibition is a general effect of zinc deficiency, irrespective of cell type, cell growth rate, species, or site of growth. There are numerous potential applications of zinc metabolism to the diagnosis, therapy, and understanding of cancer.

Arterial-venous magnesium gradients in hypovolemic shock: an indication of the irreversible state.

Arterial-venous magnesium differences were examined in mongrel dogs stressed with reversible and lethal hypovolemia. Increases in serum Mg with hemorrhage have long been known to occur in both humans and animals, yet, increased blood Mg levels have not been viewed as an indicator of the irreversible shock state. The magnesium gradient was shown to be a good indicator of cell destruction which is consistent with lethal shock.