A short-term zinc-deficient diet decreases bone formation through down-regulated BMP2 in rat bone.

We investigated the effects of a short-term dietary zinc deficiency on bone metabolism. Zinc deficiency increased the mRNA expression of zinc uptake transporters such as Zip1, Zip13, and Zip14 in bone. However, zinc deficiency might not maintain zinc storage in bone, resulting in a decrease in bone formation through downregulation of the expression levels of osteoblastogenesis-related genes.