Printed in U.S.A. Hair as a Biopsy Material I. Assessment of Zinc Nutriture1’2

T HAT THE ZINC CONTENT of hair is related to the zinc content of the diet has been shown for a variety of animal species (1-5). A lesser amount of similar evidence is available for man (6). Whether changes in the physiologic need for zinc can influ-ence the zinc content of hair when dietary zinc is not changed is not known. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that hair can be used as a biopsy material for the assessment of zinc nutriture in humans. A potential biopsy material should be compared with other means of nutriture evaluation; for example, organ or tissue analysis, and dietary intakes. There are obvious difficulties in obtaining tissue and organ specimens from healthy people. To date, no large study has been published in which hair and blood samples have been obtained from the same individuals. In the assessment of zinc nutriture, com-parison with dietary intake is of dubious benefit. As discussed by Oberleas et al. (7), the availability of zinc from various foodstuffs is adversely influenced by both calcium and phytate intakes. In this study, relationships between the zinc content of hair, red blood cells and plasma were sought. In the absence of re-liable data on zinc intakes, relationship