Zinc
Reads: Zinc status
It is not only an enzyme cofactor — zinc fingers are among the commonest DNA-binding motifs, so zinc status reaches gene expression directly. There is NO storage pool: intake must be continuous, and high-dose zinc induces metallothionein which then traps copper, causing a secondary deficiency.
What this marker reads
Catalytic and structural cofactor for hundreds of enzymes and for zinc-finger transcription factors.
What a named body publishes
Each line below is the sentence the issuing body wrote, carried with its own identifier. Nothing here interprets your result — it states what was published, for whom, and by whom.
Serum zinc
“Morning, fasting: the suggested lower cutoff for serum zinc in males aged 10 years and over is 74 µg/dL (11.3 µmol/L), the 2.5th percentile of the NHANES II reference distribution.” males, 20+ (morning fasting rows are based on subjects aged 20 years and over)
Indicators of zinc status at the population level: a review of the evidence · British Journal of Nutrition · 2008 DOI 10.1017/S0007114508006818
“Morning, fasting: the suggested lower cutoff for serum zinc in non-pregnant females aged 10 years and over is 70 µg/dL (10.7 µmol/L).” females, 20+ (morning fasting rows are based on subjects aged 20 years and over)
Indicators of zinc status at the population level: a review of the evidence · British Journal of Nutrition · 2008 DOI 10.1017/S0007114508006818
“Morning, non-fasting: the suggested lower cutoff for males aged 10 years and over is 70 µg/dL (10.7 µmol/L).” males, 10+
Indicators of zinc status at the population level: a review of the evidence · British Journal of Nutrition · 2008 DOI 10.1017/S0007114508006818
“Morning, non-fasting: the suggested lower cutoff for non-pregnant females aged 10 years and over is 66 µg/dL (10.1 µmol/L).” females, 10+
Indicators of zinc status at the population level: a review of the evidence · British Journal of Nutrition · 2008 DOI 10.1017/S0007114508006818
“Morning, non-fasting: the suggested lower cutoff for children under 10 years, sexes combined, is 65 µg/dL (9.9 µmol/L); the source states 'the lower cutoffs for boys and girls aged 3 to 9 years were combined because the difference between the sexes was negligible'.” <10
Indicators of zinc status at the population level: a review of the evidence · British Journal of Nutrition · 2008 DOI 10.1017/S0007114508006818
“Afternoon: the suggested lower cutoff for males aged 10 years and over is 61 µg/dL (9.3 µmol/L).” males, 10+
Indicators of zinc status at the population level: a review of the evidence · British Journal of Nutrition · 2008 DOI 10.1017/S0007114508006818
“Afternoon: the suggested lower cutoff for non-pregnant females aged 10 years and over is 59 µg/dL (9.0 µmol/L).” females, 10+
Indicators of zinc status at the population level: a review of the evidence · British Journal of Nutrition · 2008 DOI 10.1017/S0007114508006818
“Afternoon: the suggested lower cutoff for children under 10 years, sexes combined, is 57 µg/dL (8.7 µmol/L).” <10
Indicators of zinc status at the population level: a review of the evidence · British Journal of Nutrition · 2008 DOI 10.1017/S0007114508006818
“Pregnancy: the suggested lower cutoff in the first trimester is 56 µg/dL (8.6 µmol/L).” females, pregnant, first trimester
Indicators of zinc status at the population level: a review of the evidence · British Journal of Nutrition · 2008 DOI 10.1017/S0007114508006818
“Pregnancy: the suggested lower cutoff in the second and third trimesters is 50 µg/dL (7.6 µmol/L).” females, pregnant, second and third trimester
Indicators of zinc status at the population level: a review of the evidence · British Journal of Nutrition · 2008 DOI 10.1017/S0007114508006818
Your laboratory reads your result against its own assay, and this page does not do that for it. What is above is what a named body published and for whom; what is below is the machinery the marker reads and the formulas witnessed on it.
What moves it
Micronutrient status raises it.
Dietary zinc. Carried by the intermediary-metabolism, micronutrient and redox reviews. doi 10.3390/nu18132141 · PMC9967593
Metal-binding protein raises it.
Metallothionein is the principal intracellular zinc reservoir, donating zinc to apo-metalloproteins on thiol oxidation. PMID 10092590 · PMC10210066
What it moves
It raises Superoxide dismutase.
10.3390/antiox9121172 — The other SOD1 metal. Carried by the intermediary-metabolism, micronutrient and redox reviews. doi 10.3390/antiox9121172 · PMC9967593
It raises Immune balance.
Required for lymphocyte development and function. Carried by the intermediary-metabolism, micronutrient and redox reviews. doi 10.3390/nu18132141 · PMC9967593
It raises Resists infection.
Zinc supplementation reduces common cold duration in the trial set. Carried by the intermediary-metabolism, micronutrient and redox reviews. doi 10.3390/nu18132141 · PMC9967593
It raises Wound healing.
Required for the proliferative phase. Carried by the intermediary-metabolism, micronutrient and redox reviews. doi 10.3390/nu18132141 · PMC9967593
It raises Testosterone.
Weaker evidence - deficiency lowers testosterone; repletion in replete men does not raise it. Carried by the intermediary-metabolism, micronutrient and redox reviews. doi 10.3390/nu18132141 · PMC9967593
It raises DNA methylation.
Zinc fingers are among the commonest DNA-binding motifs, so zinc status reaches gene expression directly. Carried by the intermediary-metabolism, micronutrient and redox reviews. doi 10.3390/nu18132141 · PMC9967593
It lowers Copper status.
High-dose zinc induces metallothionein which traps copper - the commonest cause of copper deficiency in practice is prolonged zinc supplementation. Carried by the intermediary-metabolism, micronutrient and redox reviews. doi 10.3390/nu18132141 · PMC9967593
It raises Metal-binding protein.
Zinc binds the transcription factor MTF-1, which drives metal-response-element-dependent metallothionein transcription. doi 10.3390/life13010067
Formulas that modulate it
Each formula page names this pathway and carries the study behind its claim.
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