Serum Zinc Levels in Young Children with Recurrent Wheeze

Kwon, Sang Mi; Jang, Yoon Young; Kim, Ji Young; Park, Hye Jin; Kim, Woo Taek; Kim, Jin Kyung; Choi, Eun Jin; Lee, Kye Hyang; Chung, Hai Lee

Abstract

PURPOSE
Zinc is a dietary antioxidant which is crucial for normal development and function of the immune system. Zinc supplementation is reported to reduce respiratory infections and prevent severe pneumonia in children. We examined serum zinc levels in young children who had recurrent wheezing and evaluated the clinical and laboratory findings in relation to serum zinc levels.
METHODS
Seventy three patients admitted due to lower respiratory infections with wheezing were enrolled. All children had experienced more than 3 episodes of wheezing before admission. Serum zinc levels were measured by using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), and serum zinc level of <64 microgram/dL was defined as zinc deficiency. Clinical and laboratory findings were evaluated and compared between the patients with zinc deficiency and those without it. Two age-matched control groups: normal controls (control 1) and patients with acute viral illnesses (control 2) were also studied.
RESULTS
Zinc levels were significantly lower in the patient group than in the 2 control groups.(P<0.0001) Zinc deficiency was observed in 49.3% of the patient group, which was significantly higher than in controls.(P<0.0001) Peripheral blood CD4/CD8 was significantly lower in the patients with zinc deficiency than in the subjects with a normal value.(P=0.01)
CONCLUSION
This study showed that the serum zinc level was significantly lower and that zinc deficiency was more frequently observed in the patients with recurrent early wheeze. Zinc deficiency was found to be associated with lower CD4/CD8. Our results suggest that zinc deficiency may be associated with frequent respiratory infections, a likely trigger for recurrent early wheeze.