Erythrocyte zinc levels in children with bronchial asthma

Abstract

Zinc deficiency may be suspected to play a role in the pathogenesis, control, and severity of asthma because of its antioxidant, antiapoptotic, and anti-inflammatory effects. We aimed to investigate whether there was any relationship between erythrocyte zinc levels and childhood asthma. The erythrocyte zinc levels of 67 asthmatic and 45 healthy children were analyzed in this case-control study. The mean concentrations of erythrocyte zinc were 1215.8 ± 145.1 µg/dl in asthma patients and 1206.9 ± 119.5 µg/dl in controls with no significant difference (P = 0.472). The erythrocyte zinc level was below 1,000 µg/dl in 6 asthmatic patients (8.9%) and 2 control group patients (4.4%). There was no relationship between erythrocyte zinc levels and duration of follow-up, severity, and control of the asthma (P > 0.05). On the other hand, patients hospitalized for an asthma attack had significantly lower erythrocyte zinc levels compared with nonhospitalized patients and the control group (P = 0.000 and P = 0.004 respectively). This study's findings indicate that asthmatic children are not a risk group for zinc deficiency. We emphasize that checking zinc levels in children who are hospitalized for an asthma attack may be useful.

Effect of zinc supplementation in children with asthma: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial in northern Islamic Republic of Iran

“…Furthermore it has been shown that hair zinc levels are lower in children with recurrent wheeze compared with healthy controls and are negatively correlated with wheezing episodes in the last 6 months (21). Although erythrocyte zinc levels were not significantly decreased in asthma patients compared with a healthy group of children, there was a significant decrease in patients hospitalized with asthma attacks (22).…”

Zinc and atopic dermatitis: a systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…Zinc deficiency may exacerbate airway inflammation in asthma. 47 Some studies show an association between low zinc levels and asthma, [48][49][50][51][52] while others contradict these findings, [53][54][55][56] and systematic review evidence is lacking. One study found no relationship between allergic rhinitis and plasma zinc and another study found no relationship between allergic rhinitis and dietary zinc intake.…”

Çocukluk Çaği Astiminin Kontrol Ve Şi̇ddet Düzeyi̇ İle Serum Çi̇nko Düzeyleri̇ Arasindaki̇ İli̇şki̇

“…Therefore, it is argued that anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant agents will prevent the triggering of bronchoconstriction which constitutes the fundamental mechanism in asthma (4,6,9,12). It has been reported that zinc, which has anti-oxidant, anti-apoptotic, anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic properties, is important in dermatologic and respiratory diseases, while zinc deficiency plays an important role in the pathogenesis and severity of dermatologic and respiratory diseases (2,8,11). Because of its signi-ficant protective role in the airway epithelium, it is suggested that zinc deficiency may lead to an increase in epithelial damage and inflam-mation in airways (13).…”

“…Zinc is an essential dietary factor which has anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties, and it is found in the contents of numerous cells of human body and structures of various enzymes (e.g. glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase) in the respiratory tract (7,8). Moreover, zinc is considered to take part in the humoral and cellular immune response and it may play a role in the pathogenesis of asthma because of its anti-apoptotic and anti-inflammatory properties (2,9,10).…”