A study on food component(s) enhancing zinc absorption for preventing zinc deficiency

锌是人体健康的必需营养素。最近，已经发现了边缘缺锌的人。因此，增加锌吸收的策略很重要，因为其效率估计约为30%。在肠上皮细胞中，锌转运体ZIP4作为锌吸收的必需分子发挥作用。ZIP4的外源性表达导致锌摄取进入细胞，表明增加ZIP4表达的食物因子应该是锌吸收的潜在增强剂。在这项研究中，我们筛选了合适的食物成分，能够增加这种锌转运蛋白的丰度。大豆提取物被鉴定，其作用归因于锌引发的ZIP4内吞作用的特异性降低，大豆皂苷被鉴定为增加ZIP4蛋白丰度和锌水平的活性组分。我们的研究结果表明，大豆提取物可能有助于改善人类的锌吸收。

Zinc is an essential nutrient for human health. Recently, people with marginal zinc deficiency have been detected. Thus, strategies for increasing zinc absorption is important, because its efficiency is estimated to be about 30%. In the intestinal epithelial cells, zinc transporter ZIP4 functions as an essential molecule for zinc absorption. Exogenous expression of ZIP4 results in zinc uptake into the cells, suggesting that food factor(s) increasing ZIP4 expression should be a potential enhancer of zinc absorption. In this study, we screened for suitable food components with the ability to increase the abundance of this zinc transporter. Soybean extracts were identified and their effect was attributed to specifically decreased endocytosis of ZIP4 triggered by zinc, and soyasaponin was identified as an active component that increased both ZIP4 protein abundance and zinc levels from one extract. Our results suggest that soybean extracts may be useful to improve zinc absorption in humans.