title: Influence of nutritional status, age and sex on infant hair zinc concentration.
abstract: 1. Zinc concentration was measured in hair samples from 57 infants (27 boys and 30 girls) aged 7 to 24 months. Twenty-eight infants were considered eutrophic and 29 presented chronic and severe malnutrition. 2. Hair segments less than 3-cm long were cut close to the scalp in the occipital area and washed in deionized water and acetone. Zinc levels were measured by neutron-activation. 3. Hair zinc concentration decreased with age in both eutrophic and malnourished infants from 160 micrograms/g at 7 months to 90 micrograms/g at 24 months. 4. No statistically significant difference in hair zinc concentration was detected between eutrophic and malnourished infants (148 +/- 60 vs 128 +/- 57 micrograms/g hair, mean +/- SD) or between sexes.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Pediatria, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brasil.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Duarte
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Leão
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Penna
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D005260:Female; D006197:Hair / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009501:Neutron Activation Analysis; D009752:Nutritional Status; D011502:Protein-Energy Malnutrition / Q000378:metabolism*; D012737:Sex Factors; D015032:Zinc / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D015032:Zinc