Quercetin Can Help Zinc Into Cells Boosting Immunity!

How Quercetin Helps Zinc into the Cell

Overview

Quercetin is a pigment that’s part of the polyphenol plant family, which consists of potent anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory compounds. Taking quercetin supplements has been linked to a myriad of health benefits, including better cardiovascular health, reduction in the risk of certain cancers, and immune system optimization.
According to one source, the average person consumes 10–100 mg of QC in their daily diet.

This compound exerts its anti-oxidative properties on the cell and promotes the action of other substances and minerals, such as zinc. In this article, we will briefly cover the relationship between quercetin and zinc, as well as the immune-boosting properties of the latter.

As mentioned above, quercetin belongs to a large family of antioxidants known as polyphenols, which trigger many enzymatic reactions. Interestingly, researchers found that most enzymatic reactions mediated by polyphenols require zinc as a modulating factor. This led them to hypothesize about polyphenols’ ability to act as ionophores for zinc in order to increase its intracellular concentration.

In a 2014 study, researchers attempted to answer this question by measuring labile (i.e., active) zinc in hepatocarcinoma cells of mice after administrating quercetin. The results of this study confirmed the ionophore action of quercetin and other polyphenol substances.

Zinc is a vital mineral to the human body as it mediates more than 100 biochemical reactions, aiding enzymes to catalyze metabolic cascades and interfering with the transcription of DNA and RNA.
In particular, zinc plays an integral role in the immunity since it helps in the replication and growth of immune cells in the bone marrow and thymus (primary immune organs).
In a recent review paper, researchers analyzed the effects of zinc on several viral species and concluded that it protects the host’s cell by the following mechanisms:

The inhibition of polymerase enzymatic processes (i.e., halting viral RNA transcription) Disrupting viral attachment, infection, and uncoating.

In another comprehensive study that covered zinc signaling and immunity, scientists found that zinc promotes the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as interferons, to make the immune reaction more robust.
Moreover, zinc appeared to interfere with the process of recognizing foreign pathogens by Toll-Like Receptors (TLRs).
In summary, zinc seems to possess potent antiviral properties that warrant large controlled clinical studies to evaluate the effectiveness of zinc supplementation on viral infections.

Quercetin is a potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compound that aids the body in several ways, including the exhibition of ionophore action to mediate the influx of zinc inside immune cells.
Hopefully, this article managed to shed some light on this complicated topic, but if you still have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask in the comment section below.