Zinc And Skin Health

Zinc is a transitional metallic element used since ancient times. It is widely distributed in our environment, being found in water, air and virtually all foodstuffs. The medicinal properties of zinc in the shape of calamine were documented more than 3,000 years ago in the Ebers Papyrus, in old Ayurvedic manuscripts and in early Indian medicine. The finding by Raulin in 1869 that the mold Aspergillus niger would not survive on a zinc-deficient substrate was fundamental in establishing the importance of zinc in organical systems.

Zinc is second only to iron in being the most abundant trace element in our organism, but its nutritional significance came to light only in the 1960s following studies of zinc-responsive growth deficiency in infants in rural Egypt and Iran.

What Zinc Does In The Body

It is an essential trace element in the human organism and its role in dermal health and in disease is recognized. It acts as a cofactor in several transcription factors and enzyme systems including zinc-dependent matrix metalloproteinases that increase desquamation and keratinocyte movement during injury healing.

Zinc confers resistance to epithelial apoptosis through cytoprotection against reactive oxygen species and bacterial. Zinc deficiency of hereditary or dietary origin can lead to pathological changes and retarded scar healing. Oral zinc supplementation can be beneficial in treating zinc-deficient leg ulcer patients, but its therapeutic role in surgical patients needs further clarification.

Zinc Applied On Wounds Is The Better Solution

Topical use of zinc seems to be superior to zinc tablets due to its action in controlling superinfections and necrotic material via improved local defense systems and collagenolytic action, and the continual liberation of zinc ions that promotes epithelialization of wounds in normozincemic patients. Zinc oxide in paste bandages (Unna boot) protects and soothes inflamed peri-ulcer skin. Zinc is transported through the skin from these formulations, although the systemic effects seem insignificant.

Zinc Is Omnipresent

Subsequent study has demonstrated that zinc is present, albeit in minute proportions, in all living plant and animal cells, mainly in the shape of cofactors or structural components in key enzyme systems vital for cell replication, protein synthesis, and repair systems following damage. In 1941, Keilin and Mann discovered the first metalloenzyme, carbonic anhydrase, with zinc as an essential cofactor, but more lately zinc has been identified in more than 300 different enzymes.

In addition to its role in nucleic acid and protein synthesis, carbohydrate metabolism, and oxygen transport, zinc is now known to be crucial in regulating cellular membranes. Zinc-finger proteins are a family of more than 2,000 transcription elements that bind specifically to DNA and stimulate synthesis of growth factors, cytoprotective proteins, and are regulators of adult hematopoietic stem cells. Apart from its influence in protein chains, the zinc ion is closely involved in intracellular signaling and neurotransmission vital for scar less wound healing.

By: Grace Empson

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