Cited by 214Alcohol Consumption and Health EffectsTrace Elements in HealthGastrointestinal motility and disorders

The role of zinc deficiency in alcohol-induced intestinal barrier dysfunction

Open access
Zhong, Wei, McClain, Craig J., Cave, Matthew, Kang, Y. James, Zhou, Zhanxiang·2010·American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology

Abstract

Disruption of the intestinal barrier is a causal factor in the development of alcoholic endotoxemia and hepatitis. This study was undertaken to determine whether zinc deficiency is related to the deleterious effects of alcohol on the intestinal barrier. Mice were pair fed an alcohol or isocaloric liquid diet for 4 wk, and hepatitis was detected in association with elevated blood endotoxin level. Alcohol exposure significantly increased the permeability of the ileum but did not affect the barrier function of the duodenum or jejunum. Reduction of tight-junction proteins at the ileal epithelium was detected in alcohol-fed mice although alcohol exposure did not cause apparent histopathological changes. Alcohol exposure significantly reduced the ileal zinc concentration in association with accumulation of reactive oxygen species. Caco-2 cell culture demonstrated that alcohol exposure increases the intracellular free zinc because of oxidative stress. Zinc deprivation caused epithelial barrier disruption in association with disassembling of tight junction proteins in the Caco-2 monolayer cells. Furthermore, minor zinc deprivation exaggerated the deleterious effect of alcohol on the epithelial barrier. In conclusion, epithelial barrier dysfunction in the distal small intestine plays an important role in alcohol-induced gut leakiness, and zinc deficiency attributable to oxidative stress may interfere with the intestinal barrier function by a direct action on tight junction proteins or by sensitizing to the effects of alcohol.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1152/ajpgi.00350.2009

Cites

49 of 49 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

1 of the 50 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Zhong, W., McClain, C. J., Cave, M., Kang, Y. J., & Zhou, Z.
Affiliations
  • China Agricultural University (CN)
  • University of Louisville (US)
Corresponding author
Zhou, Zhanxiang
Venue
American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology
Published
2010-05
Volume
298
Issue
5
Pages
G625-G633
ISSN
  • 0193-1857 (ISSN-L)
  • 1522-1547
OpenAlex
W2140449647
Cited by
214
References
50
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 13 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 24 · 2014: 19 · 2013: 16 · 2012: 16
FWCI
9.53
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (R01AA018016, K23AA018399, R01AA018869, R01AA014623)
  • National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (R01ES021375)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pathology and Forensic Medicine › Alcohol Consumption and Health Effects
  • Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Trace Elements in Health
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Gastroenterology › Gastrointestinal motility and disorders
Keywords
zinc deficiency, alcohol, intestinal barrier dysfunction, tight junction proteins, intestinal permeability, ileum, oxidative stress, reactive oxygen species, endotoxemia, alcoholic hepatitis, leaky gut, Caco-2 cells
MeSH terms
Alcohol Drinking, Ethanol, Animals, Humans, Ileum, Intestines, Liver Diseases, Alcoholic, Male, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Permeability, Zinc, Reactive Oxygen Species, Oxidative Stress, Caco-2 Cells, Tight Junctions, Mice

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review