ArticleThe Journal of nutrition2009
Zinc supplementation increases zinc status and thymopoiesis in aged mice.
Article in The Journal of nutrition, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 59 citations in OpenAlex.
- Genetic determinants of zinc homeostasis and its role in cardiometabolic diseases.PLoS genetics · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of zinc-fortified drinking skim milk (as functional food) on cytokine release and thymic hormone activity in very old persons: a pilot study.Age (Dordrecht, Netherlands) · 2014Trial
- CD8Science China. Life sciences · 2026Review
- Network Rewiring in the Aging Immune System: From Chronic Inflammation to Age-Related Pathologies.Cells · 2026Review
- Age-related thymic involution: Mechanistic insights and rejuvenating approaches to restore immune function.Science advances · 2026Review
- Metal Ions Within the Neuro-Immune-Tumor Axis.Journal of immunology research · 2026Review
- Endogenous thymic regeneration: restoring T cell production following injury.Nature reviews. Immunology · 2025Review
- Zinc deficiency as possible link between immunosenescence and age-related diseases.Immunity & ageing : I & A · 2025Review
- Immunosenescence and inflammaging: Mechanisms and modulation through diet and lifestyle.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
- Impaired ATP hydrolysis in blood plasma contributes to age-related neutrophil dysfunction.Immunity & ageing : I & A · 2024Article
- Catalytic activity of OGG1 is impaired by Zinc deficiency.DNA repair · 2024Article
- Zinc supplementation alters tissue distribution of arsenic in Mus musculus.Toxicology and applied pharmacology · 2023Article
- Article
- The antidepressant effect of short- and long-term zinc exposition is partly mediated by P2X7 receptors in male mice.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2023Article
- Emerging cellular senescence-centric understanding of immunological aging and its potential modulation through dietary bioactive components.Biogerontology · 2022Review
- Article
- Age and micronutrient effects on the microbiome in a mouse model of zinc depletion and supplementation.PloS one · 2022Article
- Effects of zinc status on age-related T cell dysfunction and chronic inflammation.Biometals : an international journal on the role of metal ions in biology, biochemistry, and medicine · 2021Article
- The contribution of thymic tolerance to central nervous system autoimmunity.Seminars in immunopathology · 2021Review
- Mitochondrial Pyruvate Carrier 1 Promotes Peripheral T Cell Homeostasis through Metabolic Regulation of Thymic Development.Cell reports · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The age-related decline in lymphocyte development and function coincides with impaired zinc status in the elderly. Thymic involution and reduced immune responsiveness are classic hallmarks of both aging and zinc deficiency, resulting in decreased host defense and an increased susceptibility to infections. Thus, compromised zinc status associated with aging may be an important contributing factor in reduced thymopoiesis and impaired immune functions. Our goal in this study was to understand how dietary zinc supplementation affects thymopoiesis in aged mice. We hypothesized that impaired zinc status associated with aging would mediate the decline in thymic function and output and that restoring plasma zinc concentrations via zinc supplementation would improve thymopoiesis and thymic functions. In this study, groups of young (8 wk) and aged (22 mo) mice were fed a zinc-adequate (30 mg/kg zinc) or zinc-supplemented diet (300 mg/kg) for 25 d. Aged mice had impaired zinc status, with zinc supplementation restoring plasma zinc to a concentration not different from those of young male C57Bl/6 mice. Zinc supplementation in aged mice improved thymopoiesis, as assessed by increased total thymocyte numbers. In addition, improved thymic output was mediated in part by reducing the age-related accumulation of immature CD4(-)CD8(-)CD44(+)CD25(-) thymocytes, as well as by decreasing the expression of stem cell factor, a thymosuppressive cytokine. Taken together, our results showed that in mice, zinc supplementation can reverse some age-related thymic defects and may be of considerable benefit in improving immune function and overall health in elderly populations.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.