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Acrodermatitis Enteropathica

Abstract

Presently, measurement of zinc levels in blood plasma or serum is the simplest and most common way of finding the body’s zinc status. However, infections, injuries, and other stress stimuli can alter blood zinc levels and confound the clinical picture when attempting to diagnose AE based on plasma zinc levels. The mechanism for the decreased serum zinc levels observed in the setting of inflammation has not been completely elucidated, but a recent discovery that interluekin-6 (IL-6) upregulates the expression of the ZIP14 zinc transporter in murine liver and may contribute to the hypozincemia seen in inflammatory states [1]. In addition, zinc is distributed to different parts of the body; as a result blood zinc levels cannot be accurately measured. Normal levels of zinc in blood plasma range between 70 and 110 μg/dL, while zinc levels in blood serum range from 80 to 120 μg/dL. Under normal conditions, zinc excretion through urine varies but urinary zinc excretion is significantly reduced in individuals with zinc deficiency [2]. Hair zinc levels are also decreased in patients with AE and it was proposed to detect heterozygous carriers of SLC39A4 mutations [3].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    Pooya Khan Mohammad Beigi MSc, MD

  2. New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY, USA

    Pooya Khan Mohammad Beigi MSc, MD

  3. University of California Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA

    Emanual Maverakis MD

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  2. Emanual Maverakis MD
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Beigi, P.K.M., Maverakis, E. (2015). Diagnosis. In: Acrodermatitis Enteropathica. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17819-6_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17819-6_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-17818-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-17819-6

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