Hi Dear
For reducing lead absorption the key nutrients appear to be vitamin C, calcium(protect the nervous system ), iron and, to a lesser degree, zinc and phosphorus.
B1 ( thiamin), which specifically increases lead excretion from the brain, and B9 (folate),Vitamin B6 can increase lead excretion in animals, but there are few studies on it .
For reducing blood lead levels, vitamin C, vitamin E, thiamine (B1), folate (B9) (as neuroprotective) and iron (can protect the blood-brain barrier) have the strongest and most consistent blood lead links.
The impact of zinc is with no strong evidence of impacts on blood lead levels,However, it appears to significantly lessen lead impacts on the liver, kidneys, testes and especially the brain, an organ with very high concentrations of zinc.
about ZIP4 andZNT1Try read this article .
Zinc supplementation decreased ZIP4 mRNA abundance in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of rural women in south Ethiopia. 2014. Alemtsehay Bogale, Stephen Clarke and Barbara Stoecker
Dear Alan,
It is an interesting issue. Although lead(II) and zinc(II) are both divalent metal ions they differ by the size and coordination chemistry. In certain examples, lead may competes with zinc for cysteine-rich binding sites in proteins, however available data show that this competition is somehow balanced. In case of zinc transporters I would not expect such a competition. ZIP4 has identified two binding sites attractive for divalent metal ions, N-terminal (extracellular) with His and Asp residues, and C-terminal (intracellular) with mostly His residues. Such coordination environment is more attractive for zinc than lead. Moreover, it has been shown that only copper(II) inhibits zinc transport in ZIP4 (see link below). Other metal ions either do not compete or they may bind to protein but do not inhibit zinc transport - like nickel, for the instance.
more information:
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/bi201553p?journalCode=bichaw
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Biological Science
- Molecular Biology
- Biomolecules
- Proteins