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. 2011 Sep 30;3(1):91–129.

Table 3.

Effect of zinc on immune function

Subjects N Intervention Findings Reference
Animals
Male C57BL/6 mice, 12 mo 12 (C)
12 (Z)		 117 mg/kg of zinc for 3 mo or 6 mo

  • -Increase serum zinc, thymulin activity, thymus weight, viable thymocytes, absolute number of T cells (DN, DP, SP) in thymocyte without altering frequency

 Dardenne et al. 1993 [108]
Male Balb/c mice, 22 mo 10 (C)
10 (Z)		 18 μg zinc/ml in the drinking water as sulphate for 1–3 mo

  • -Increase plasma zinc, thymulin activity, thymus weight, number of thymocytes, absolute number of T cells (DN, DP, SP) and % of CD4+CD8− in thymocyte

  • -Increase absolute number of spleen T cells, PHA- or Con A-induced lymphocyte proliferation

  • -Increase NK cell activity and IFN-γ-induced NK cell activity

 Mocchegiani et al. 1995 [109]
Male C57BL/6 mice, 22 mo 8 (C)
8 (Z)		 300 mg/kg of zinc as zinc carbonate for 25 d

  • -Increase plasma zinc level, thymic output

  • -Decrease immature DN thymocytes, negative stem cell factor (SCF)

 Wong et al. 2009 [110]
Humans
Institutionalized healthy, >70 y 15 (C)
15 (Z)		 440 mg zinc sulfate for 1 mo

  • -Increased number of circulating T cells, DTH, IgG Ab response to tetanus vaccine compared to control

  • -No effect on number of total circulating leukocytes or lymphocytes and lymphocyte proliferation stimulated with PHA, Con A, or PWM.

 Duchateau et al. 1981 [112]
Anergic to DTH, 64–76 y 5 (Z) 55 mg zinc/d as zinc sulfate for 1 mo

  • -Improvement in DTH response (assessed before and after supplementation)

 Wagner et al. 1983 [113]
Free living healthy, 60–89 y 36 (P)
36 (Z, 15)
31 (Z, 100)		 15 mg zinc/d or 100 mg zinc/d as zinc acetate plus vitamin and mineral vs vitamin and mineral (placebo) for 3 mo

  • -Increase in the zinc concentration in plasma at 100 mg zinc supplementation, but not in 15 mg while no change was observed in zinc concentration in other cells

  • -No effect on DTH and lymphocyte proliferation at 3 mo

 Bogden et al. 1988 [117]
Zinc deficient, 65–78 y 8 (Z) 60 mg zinc/d as zinc acetate for 4.5 mo

  • -Increase in the zinc concentration in plasma as well as lymphocytes and neutrophils

  • -Improvement in DTH response

 Cossack 1989 [111]
Free living healthy, 60–89 y 24 (P)
20 (Z, 15)
19 (Z, 100)		 15 mg zinc/d or 100 mg zinc/d as zinc acetate plus vitamin and mineral vs vitamin and mineral (placebo) for 1 y

  • -Improvement in DTH response over time in all groups, but DTH response was greater in control group than either zinc groups

  • -Transient enhancement in NK cell activity at 3 mo, but not at 6 mo and 1 y supplementation

 Bogden et al. 1990 [116]
Institutionalized, 73–106 y 44 (P)/(Z) crossover 20 mg zinc/d for 8 wk and placebo for 8 wk

  • -Increase in active thymulin concentration

 Boukaiba et al. 1993 [123]
Zinc deficient, 50–80 y 13 (Z) 30 mg zinc/d as zinc sulfate for 6 mo

  • -Increase in the zinc concentration in plasma as well as lymphocytes and granulocyte

  • -Increase in serum thumulin activity, IL-1 production

  • -Improvement in DTH response

 Prasad et al. 1993 [114]
Institutionalized, 64–100 y 190 (C)
160 (Z)		 400 mg zinc sulfate/d for 60 d

  • -No effect on influenza vaccine

  • -No phenotypic change in lymphocyte population (CD3+, CD4+, and CD8+)

 Provinciali et al. 1998 [130]
Institutionalized healthy, ≥ 65 y 30 (P)
31 (A)
28 (Z)
29 (Z+A)		 A: 800 μg retinol palmitate/d
Z: 25 mg zinc/d as zinc sulfate
Z+A: 25 mg zinc/d as zinc sulfate and 800 μg retinol palmitate/d for 3 mo

  • -Tend to increase lymphocyte proliferation in response to Con A (p=0.052) and PHA (p=0.091)

  • -No phenotypic change in lymphocyte population (CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, and NK cells)

In comparison between (Z and Z+A) and (P+A)

  • -Increase number of CD4+DR+ T cells (p=0.016) and cytotoxic T lymphocytes (p=0.005)

 Fortes et al. 1998 [118]
Healthy, 65–85 y 12 (P)
15 (Z)		 12 mg zinc/d for 1 mo

  • -Increase NK cell cytotoxicity and thymulin activity

 Mocchegiani et al, 2003 [124]
Free-living, 65–82 y 19 (Z) 10 mg zinc/d as zinc aspartate for 7 wk

  • -Increase serum zinc level

  • -Reduce activated T helper cells (CD4+/CD25+), but no effect on Th2/Th1 (CCR4+/CCD5+)

 Kahmann et al. 2006 [119]
Institutionalized 12 (P)
12 (Z)		 45 mg zinc/d as zinc gluconate for 6 mo

  • - Increase IL-2 and IL-2R α mRNA in response to PHA

 Prasad et al. 2006 [115]
Free living healthy, 55–70 y 31 (P)
28/34 (Z)		 15 mg zinc/d or 30 mg zinc/d as zinc gluconate for 6 mo

  • -No effect on NK cells or CRP levels

  • -Transiently decrease B cells with 30 mg zinc (3 mo) and increase the ratio of CD4 to CD8 with 15 mg zinc (6 mo)

 Hodkinson et al. 2007 [260]
Zinc deficient, 60–84 y 110 (Z) 10 mg zinc/d as zinc aspartate for 7 wk

  • -Increase plasma zinc level, NK activity, IL-6 production

 Mocchegiani et al. 2008 [127]
Zinc deficient, 60–84 y 39 (Z) 10 mg zinc/d as zinc aspartate for 7 wk

  • -Increase plasma zinc level, NK activity, IL-6 production, and reduce MCP-1 production

 Mariani et al. 2008 [128]

(C) control without supplementation, (P) placebo, (Z) zinc supplementation, (Z+S) zinc+selenium supplementation, (A) vitamin A supplementation, (Z+A) zinc+vitamin A supplementation, CRP: C-reactive protein, DN: double negative (CD4−CD8−), DP: double positive (CD4+CD8+), SP: single positive (CD4+CD8−, CD4−CD8+), PWM: pokeweed mitogen