ABSTRACT
Zinc is an antioxidant trace mineral, scavenging free radicals and known to be involved in inflammatory reactions. The prevalence of atherogenic diseases such as coronary heart disease (CHD) are increasing in Korean adults of middle age and elderly. The increased cell damage from free radicals and inflammation have been implicated in etiology of CHD, and the evidence is accumulating that low zinc status is involved in the prevalence of this inflammatory atherogenic disease. However, little is known about the zinc status of Korean CHD and its relationship with dietary zinc intake and zinc bioavailabilty. In this study the serum zinc levels of male patients with CHD over 40 yrs. were compared with that of healthy adult males and its associations with dietary zinc intake and zinc bioavailabilty affecting factors were examined. Serum zinc level was measured by HANARO research reactor using neutron activation analysis (NAA) method. The overall proportion of patients with zinc deficiency, serum zinc concentrations below 74.0 microgram/dL was 32.8% compared to the 10.3% in healthy group. The average serum zinc levels were 80.7 microgram/dL and 88.3 microgram/dL in patients and healthy group, respectively, showing significantly low zinc status in CHD patients compared to healthy group. The intake of nutrients such as energy, carbohydrate, iron, and copper of CHD patients was significantly higher compared to that of the healthy group. In addition, the intake of calcium, iron, and protein from vegetable foods was significantly higher in CHD patients than that of healthy group. The dietary zinc intake was 12.7+/-4.5 mg and 11.5+/-6.9 mg in CHD patients and control group, respectively, which showed no difference. The phytate intake of patients group, which is 1389.0 mg, was significantly higher than the control group which showed 1104.8 mg. However, the ratio of phytate :zinc or phytate *calcium :zinc per 1000 kcal energy intake did not show any difference between two groups. The serum zinc levels did not show any correlation with zinc or factors that affect the bioavailability of zinc. The dietary factors influencing the zinc status were not found in CHD patients.