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Hypozincemia is usually a nutritional deficiency, but can also be associated with malabsorption, diarrhea, acrodermatitis enteropathica, chronic liver disease, chronic renal disease, sickle-cell disease, diabetes, malignancy, and other chronic illnesses. It can also occur after bariatric surgery.
Zinc deficiency is typically the result of inadequate dietary intake of zinc, disease states that promote zinc losses, or physiological states that require increased zinc. Populations that consume primarily plant based diets that are low in bioavailable zinc often have zinc deficiencies.
Diseases or conditions that involve intestinal malabsorption promote zinc losses. Fecal losses of zinc caused by diarrhea are one contributing factor., often common in developing countries. Changes in intestinal tract absorbability and permeability due, in part, to viral, protozoal, and bacteria pathogens may also encourage fecal losses of zinc.
Physiological states that require increased zinc include periods of growth in infants and children as well as in mothers during pregnancy.
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