A team of scientists, led by Dr. Raghu Padinjat at the National Centre of Biological Sciences, Bangalore, has recently described an ion channel in Drosophila that is required for zinc homeostasis during animal development. This study, reported in the October issue of Cell Metabolism and done in collaboration with scientists at the Babraham Institute, Cambridge and Uniklinikum des Saarlandes, Germany has significant practical implications, since zinc is used in the treatment of acute and persistent diarrhea in children.

Childhood diarrhea accounts for a high incidence of mortality in developing countries. Every year, almost 1.5 million children under the age of 5 years die from diarrhea, more than 80% of them in Africa and Asia. A number of studies have found a correlation between the time and dosage of zinc supplementation and alleviation of diarrhea symptoms. The World Health Organization now recommends the use of low-osmolarity oral rehydration solutions, together with zinc supplementation for the treatment of diarrhea. However, the molecular basis for the physiological efficacy of zinc in this setting is ill-defined.