title: Gender differences in selected zinc metabolism parameters in patients with mild primary arterial hypertension.
abstract: The relationship between selected zinc (Zn) metabolism parameters, arterial blood pressure, age, and renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system in subjects of both sexes with mild primary arterial hypertension is presented in this study. The following parameters were measured: systolic and diastolic arterial blood pressure, total and ouabain-dependent efflux rate constants of Zn from lymphocytes, serum and lymphocyte Zn concentrations, serum aldosterone, angiotensin-converting enzyme, sodium and potassium concentrations, body mass index, and plasma rennin activity. When all subjects are taken into account, no significant age-related differences were found for serum Zn. If divided into men and women, negative (r = -0.39) and positive (r = 0.34) correlations are observed, respectively. Lymphocyte Zn correlated negatively with age in the entire group (r = -0.55) and also for men (r = -0.54) and women (r = -0.57). The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system parameters correlated with those of Zn metabolism only for women: plasma rennin activity with total Zn efflux from lymphocytes (r = -0.33) and with lymphocyte Zn (r = 0.71); the angiotensin-converting enzyme with total Zn efflux from lymphocytes (r = -0.35), with the ouabain-dependent Zn efflux from lymphocytes (r = -0.33) and with lymphocyte Zn (r = 0.57); serum aldosterone with ouabain-dependent Zn efflux from lymphocytes (r = -0.44) and with lymphocyte Zn (r = 0.59). For the men, the only positive correlation was that of serum Zn and aldosterone (r = 0.45). In all cases (men and women), there was no negative correlation between serum Zn and angiotensin-converting enzyme. In women, the diastolic blood pressure correlated negatively with total Zn efflux from lymphocytes (r = -0.39), ouabain-dependent Zn efflux from lymphocytes (r = -0.49), and serum Zn (r = -0.46); systolic blood pressure correlated negatively with lymphocyte zinc (r = -0.38). In men, the systolic blood pressure had a negative correlation with lymphocyte zinc (r = -0.32), which was also true for the entire group (r = -0.34). These results clearly show gender-related differences in Zn metabolism and indicate the need for further research to elucidate the possible causes of this phenomenon not only for Zn but for other elements as well.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Physical Education and Physiotherapy, Institute of Technology, Opole, Poland. slawomir.tubek@hipokrates.org
authors.forename: Sławomir
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tubek
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000450:Aldosterone / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D007703:Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A / Q000097:blood; D015032:Zinc / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D000450:Aldosterone; D007703:Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A; D015032:Zinc