Reduced leucocyte zinc in liver disease.

The zinc content of peripheral blood leucocytes has been measured in normal controls and in three groups of patients with liver disease. A significant reduction in leucocyte zinc, but not erythrocyte zinc, was observed in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis, alcoholic cirrhosis, and active chronic hepatitis. It is suggested that the nucleated tissues of some patients with liver disease are therefore zinc deficient, and that leucocyte zinc may prove of value in the assessment of the zinc status of such patients.