Dietary boron: Progress in establishing essential roles in human physiology ?

Curtiss D. Hunt
Kolschitzkygasse 14-18/5/13, A-1040 Vienna, Austria
Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology; Received 1 March 2012. Accepted 11 March 2012. Available online 2 June 2012.

This review summarizes the progress made in establishing essential roles for boron in human physiology and assesses that progress in view of criteria for essentiality of elements.

The evidence to date suggests that humans and at least some higher animals may use boron to support normal biological functions.

These include roles in calcium metabolism, bone growth and maintenance, insulin metabolism, and completion of the life cycle.

The biochemical mechanisms responsible for these effects are poorly understood but the nature of boron biochemistry suggests further characterization of the cell signaling molecules capable of complexing with boron.

Such characterization may provide insights into the biochemical function(s) of boron in humans.

The author wishes to acknowledge support provided by National Boron Research Institute BOREN (Ankara, Turkey) for attending and presenting this paper in boron session, “Boron: Indispensable Element of Our Lives, organized by BOREN at the IX ISTERH 2011 Conference, Belek, Turkey, 16–21 October 2011”.
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Retired.
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See also at Vitamin D Life

• All items in category Boron 29 items
• Need at least 1 mg of Boron daily – Oct 2011