ABSTRACT
We report herein the effects of varying dietary zinc contents on burns healing in 15% body surface area (BSA) Ⅲ? burned Lop rabbits. 18 adult male rabbits were given a low zinc diet for two weeks, resulting in a decrease of serum zinc concentration which further decreased postburn without restoration. On the contrary, serum was restored rapidly to normal levels in the zinc supplemented groups. Similar changes were found in serum alkaline phosphatase (AKP) activity, and there was a close relationship between serum zinc and serum AKP activity. Burns healing in the high zinc group was markedly faster than that in the low zinc group. These results strongly suggested that zinc might be a factor benefiting burns healing. We concluded that serum AKP activity could be used as a diagnostic criterion of postburn hypozincemia as well as a valid index in the assessment of the effectiveness of supplemented zinc.