Effect of Micronutrient Supplementation on Disease Progression in Asymptomatic, Antiretroviral-Naive, HIV-Infected Adults in Botswana

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“…21 Zinc deficiency is associated with poor wound healing, growth retardation, hair loss and weak immune function. 22 When zinc levels fall, skin rash, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, diarrhea and impaired taste and smell could occur. When the host's stores of zinc are depleted plasma MT is degraded to provide plasma zinc.…”

“…Zinc supplementation however, can restore MT levels. 21,22 A cautious use of zinc supplement is advised because if zinc is administered for too long, it can cause depigmentation of hair and skin. In addition, excess zinc can result to copper deficiency.…”

Review of randomized controlled trials of nutritional supplementation in people living with HIV

“…Baum et al 79 supplemented 878 PLWH in Botswana with a multivitamin formula (a B complex with vitamins C and E based on that used by Fawzi et al 25 ) in a double-blinded RCT with a 2×2 factorial design. The participants were randomized to selenium (200 μg of elemental selenium) alone in the first arm of the study, or to multivitamins alone in the second arm, or multivitamins and selenium in combination in the third arm, compared to placebo.…”

“…Sudfeld et al, 82 using the multivitamin formula previously described by Fawzi et al 25 and Baum et al 79 (B complex with vitamins C and E), compared the multivitamin arm with an experimental arm with multivitamins plus 200 μg of selenium, in a cohort of 420 pregnant women enrolled at 12-27-week gestation and followed until 6 months postpartum. The authors found that in primiparous women, but not in multiparous, the addition of selenium increased the relative risk of HIV-RNA shedding in breast milk.…”

Effect of zinc on immune recovery in HIV patients. Medellín 2013. Randomized controlled trial

“…Scientific papers have linked zinc deficiency with decreased CD4 lymphocytes and decreased survival; Baum et al showed in 2010 and in 2013 that supplementation with antioxidant, vitamins and minerals was associated with longer survival and fewer immunological failure (19,20).This study addresses the need to have local data on the role of zinc in maintaining the integrity of the immune system, disease progression to AIDS, related mortality and the need to develop an optimal zinc therapy for infected adults; then the aim of this study was to assess the benefits and safety of zinc supplements at nutritional doses in the recovery of CD4 lymphocytes.…”