Serum Zinc Concentrations in Children with Acute Bloody and Watery Diarrhoea
Journal Title: Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal - Year 2015, Vol 15, Issue 4
Abstract
Objectives: Te role of zinc in the pathogenesis of diarrhoea is controversial. Tis study was conducted to compare serum zinc levels in children with acute diarrhoea to those found in healthy children. Methods: Tis case-control study was carried out at the Qazvin Children’s Hospital in Qazvin, Iran, between July 2012 and January 2013. A total of 60 children with acute diarrhoea (12 children with bloody diarrhoea and 48 children with watery diarrhoea) and 60 healthy children were included. Zinc levels for all subjects were measured using a flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer and data were analysed and compared between groups. Results: Mean serum zinc levels in the patients with acute bloody diarrhoea, acute watery diarrhoea and the control group were 74.1 ± 23.7 µg/dL, 169.4 ± 62.7 µg/dL and 190.1 ± 18.0 µg/dL, respectively (P = 0.01). Hypozincaemia was observed in 50.0% of children with acute bloody diarrhoea and 12.5% of those with acute watery diarrhoea. None of the patients in the control group had hypozincaemia (P = 0.01). Conclusion: Children with acute bloody diarrhoea had signifcantly reduced serum zinc levels in comparison to healthy children. However, a study with a larger sample size is needed to examine the signifcance of this trend.
Authors and Affiliations
Abolfazl Mahyar| Departments of Pediatrics , Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran, Parviz Ayazi| Departments of Pediatrics , Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran, Victoria Chegini| Departments of Pediatrics , Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran, Mehdi Sahmani| Centres for Cellular & Molecular Research, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran, Sonia Oveisi| Centres for Metabolic Diseases Research, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran, Shiva Esmaeily| Departments of Statistics, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran
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