Zinc transporters expression profile in professional handball players supplemented with zinc Molina-López, Jorge Florea, Daniela Ioana Gamarra Morales, Yenifer Herrera Quintana, Lourdes María Vázquez Lorente, Héctor Hogstrand, Christer Planells Del Pozo, Elena María Zinc Status Zinc transporters Team sports Introduction Zinc (Zn) deficiency has been described not only on general human health but also within the sports context –as negatively affecting performance–. Thus, Zn status assessment is of great interest for athletes, especially in order to correct deficiency states of this mineral. Objective The overall objective of this work was to assess Zn status in professional handball players during the competitive period (through plasma levels, dietary intake and gene expression of the Zn transporters), as well as to determine the effect of Zn supplementation. Methods A total of twenty-two participants were recruited, –twelve belonged to the Control Group (CG) and ten male handball players comprised the experimental group (ATH-G)–, being monitored over a 2-month period with 2 evaluation moments: baseline (i.e., initial conditions) and follow-up (i.e., after 8 weeks of training and competition). Zn intake, plasma Zn levels, and gene expression of Zn transporters were obtained. Results Plasma Zn levels were higher in ATH-G than in CG at the end of Zn intervention (p ≤ 0.010). Moreover, differences in the gene expression profile of Zn transporters were observed in ATH-G –with the down-regulation of several Zn transporters–, compared to the CG at baseline (p ≤ 0.05). Likewise, differences in the Zn transporters expression were observed in ATH-G at 8 weeks (all, p ≤ 0.001) –with ZnT2, ZnT5, ZIP3, ZIP5, ZIP11, ZIP13 and ZIP14 transporters being up-regulated–. Conclusion Handball players seemed to have different nutritional needs for Zn, with differences in the gene expression of Zn transporters compared to controls. Zn intervention in our athletes may have influenced the expression of Zn transporters, indicating a potential increase in Zn transporters expression to mobilize Zn at the cellular level at 8 weeks of Zn intervention. 2024-05-28T07:13:50Z 2024-05-28T07:13:50Z 2024 info:eu-repo/semantics/article J. Molina-López et al. Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology 85 (2024) 127473 [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtemb.2024.127473] https://hdl.handle.net/10481/92131 10.1016/j.jtemb.2024.127473 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License Elsevier