Seems that Zinc is important in controlling inflammatory responses. Zinc has been found to shorten the course of a cold, and recently has been shown to be a controlling factor in limiting inflammation as part of the immune response. This means such nasties as inflammatory arthritis, and cardiovascular disease will b For your health: An Apple A Day is good, but An Apple And A Zinc is better.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21525204?dopt=Abstract