Zinc therapy of acrodermatitis enteropathica

The therapeutic effect of orally administered zinc was evaluated in an adult woman with acrodermatitis enteropathica. When she was off therapy and in clinical relapse the plasma zinc concentration (10 mug per 100 ml), serum alkaline phosphatase (3 1U per liter) and urine zinc excretion rate (39 mug per 24 hours) were extremely low. Di-iodohydroxyquin therapy was accompanied by a modest increase in plasma zinc concentrations. Oral zinc sulfate (220 mg three times a day or 50 mg twice a day) resulted in rapid and complete clinical remission, and in a return of plasma zinc, serum alkaline phosphatase and urinary zinc excretion to normal. These data are compatible with a severe zinc deficiency state and indicate that the inherited defect in this disease is either in or closely related to zinc metabolism. The beneficial effects of zinc therapy in this patient provide further confirmation of the efficacy of oral zinc in the treatment of acrodermatitis enteropathica.