Essential microminerals and their response to burn injury

Certain microminerals, named because of their minute quantities in the body, are essential components for maintaining homeostasis involving, in particular, metabolism, immune defense, and wound healing. In general, these trace elements are characterized by having multiple roles and by demonstrating deficiency syndromes that are complex and difficult to diagnosis. The response of the microminerals to injury, especially burn injury, is not well defined. The purpose of this article is to describe the known roles of the trace elements and the effect of burn injury on circulating and tissue levels. As will be noted, much less is known regarding the impact of trace elements' changes on the injury process than the role of these elements in the normal state. In addition, the amount of trace elements needed for the stress changes after injury are, for the most part, undefined.