Zinc as a Drug for Wilson's Disease, Non-Alcoholic Liver Disease and COVID-19-Related Liver Injury.

ABSTRACT: Zinc is the second most abundant trace element in the human body, and it plays a fundamental role in human physiology, being an integral component of hundreds of enzymes and transcription factors. The discovery that zinc atoms may compete with copper for their absorption in the gastrointestinal tract let to introduce zinc in the therapy of Wilson's disease, a congenital disorder of copper metabolism characterized by a systemic copper storage. Nowadays, zinc salts are considered one of the best therapeutic approach in patients affected by Wilson's disease. On the basis of the similarities, at histological level, between Wilson's disease and non-alcoholic liver disease, zinc has been successfully introduced in the therapy of non-alcoholic liver disease, with positive effects both on insulin

SUBMITTER: Coni P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8587580 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature