{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,5]],"date-time":"2026-10-05T19:43:04Z","timestamp":1791229384084,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":56,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,4,22]],"date-time":"2020-04-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1587513600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Zinc deficiency is common in Japan, yet awareness on this disorder is lacking. The Japanese Society of Clinical Nutrition recently issued the Japan\u2019s Practical Guideline for Zinc Deficiency 2018 setting forth criteria for diagnosing zinc deficiency, i.e., (a) one or more symptoms of zinc deficiency or low serum alkaline phosphatase, (b) ruling out other diseases, (c) low serum zinc, and (d) alleviation of symptoms upon zinc administration. Serum zinc &lt;60 \u03bcg\/dL and 60\u201380 \u03bcg\/dL indicate zinc deficiency and marginal deficiency, respectively. Zinc deficiency symptoms vary and include dermatitis and taste disorders among others. Zinc administration improves taste in 50\u201382% of patients suffering from taste disorders (a common symptom of zinc deficiency). Effects of zinc administration do not appear immediately, and therapy should be continued for at least three months. Zinc deficiency often accompanies various diseases and conditions. Here, we focus on inflammatory bowel diseases and liver cirrhosis. As zinc deficiency enhances intestinal inflammation via macrophage activation, we discuss the pathological mechanism for inflammation and zinc deficiency in the context of IBD. Zinc deficiency can also lead to a nitrogen metabolic disorder in patients with liver cirrhosis. Zinc supplementation can improve not only the ammonia metabolism, but also the protein metabolism. We also discuss directions for future studies of zinc deficiency.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms21082941","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,4,23]],"date-time":"2020-04-23T02:10:52Z","timestamp":1587607852000},"page":"2941","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":129,"title":["Japan\u2019s Practical Guidelines for Zinc Deficiency with a Particular Focus on Taste Disorders, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, and Liver Cirrhosis"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"21","author":[{"given":"Hiroko","family":"Kodama","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Health and Dietetics, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Teikyo Heisei University, 2-51-4, Higashiikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo 170-8445, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Makoto","family":"Tanaka","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Nihon University School of Medicine, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo 173-8610, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5443-788X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yuji","family":"Naito","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto 620-8566, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kazuhiro","family":"Katayama","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Hepato-Biliary and Pancreatic Oncology, International Cancer Institute, Osaka 541-8567, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mitsuhiko","family":"Moriyama","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, Nihon University School of Medicine, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo 173-8610 Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,4,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"66","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jtemb.2012.04.004","article-title":"Discovery of human zinc deficiency: 50 years later","volume":"26","author":"Prasad","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. 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