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

锌是人体健康所必需的营养素。最近发现了边缘性锌缺乏症患者。因此，增加锌吸收的策略是重要的，因为其效率估计约为30%。在肠上皮细胞中，锌转运蛋白ZIP4是锌吸收的重要分子。外源表达ZIP4导致锌吸收进入细胞，表明增加ZIP4表达的食物因子可能是锌吸收的潜在促进剂。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体的丰度。大豆提取物对ZIP4蛋白的抑制作用可归因于锌对ZIP4蛋白内吞作用的特异性降低，大豆皂苷是一种有效成分，可同时提高ZIP4蛋白丰度和锌含量。我们的研究结果表明，大豆提取物可能有助于提高人体对锌的吸收。

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.