Zinc Concentrations Within Healing Wounds

Abstract

Zinc, a micronutrient essential to man, has been demonstrated to have a beneficial effect upon wound healing.1The historical aspects relating to the relationship which exists between this ion and tissue repair have been summarized elsewhere with the results of our own earlier clinical studies.2During recent years, investigators have documented that this element is essential for function of a number of clinically important biologic enzymes, and that the activity of certain of these zinc-dependent enzymes is altered during particular states of tissue destruction and repair.3,4It is of pertinent interest that a relative preponderance of total biologic zinc is concentrated within the skin and cutaneous structures, and that certain patients with problems in wound healing exhibit subnormal biologic zinc levels.2,5The question as to whether posttraumatic alterations of biologic zinc requirements and availability may be affected by urinary loss of this ion, particularly in relation