Serum zinc levels and multiple health outcomes: Implications for zinc-based biomaterials

Background:Zinc-based biomaterials,including biodegradable metal,nanoparticles,and coatings used in medical implants release zinc ions that may increase the whole-body and serum zinc concentrations.The impact of serum zinc concentrations on major health outcomes can provide insights for device design and clinical transformation of zinc-based biomaterials.Methods:This nationally representative cross-sectional study enrolled participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey(NHANES,2011-2014)including 3607 participants.Using unadjusted and multivariate-adjusted logistic regression analyses,two-piecewise linear regression model with a smoothing function and threshold level analysis,we evaluated the associations between elevated serum zinc levels and major health outcomes.Results:Elevated serum zinc levels were significantly associated with an increase in total spine and total femur bone mineral density(BMD).Every 10μg/dL increase was associated with a 1.12-fold increase in diabetes mellitus(DM)and 1.23-fold and 1.29-fold increase in cardiovascular diseases(CVD)and coronary heart disease(CHD),in participants with serum zinc levels≥100μg/dL.It had no significant linear or nonlinear associations with risk of fractures,congestive heart failure,heart attack,thyroid disease,arthritis,osteoarthritis,rheumatoid arthritis,dyslipidemia and cancer.Conclusion:Serum zinc levels are significantly associated with increased BMD in the total spine and total femur,and risk of DM,and CVD/CHD among participants with serum zinc levels≥100μg/dL.

The relationship between serum zinc levels and rheumatoid arthritis activity

OBJECTIVES： Rheumatoid arthritis （RA） is one of the most prevalent chronic autoimmune diseases; it typically involves the hands, wrists, ankles, and eventually all joints. Some studies have reported that zinc serum levels are lower in patients with RA than in healthy individuals. MATERIALS and METHODS： Seventy-nine patients with RAwere selected. The patients were all less than 75 years old and were diagnosed by a rheumatologist. Serum zinc levels were measured using the flame photometry method with a blood sample of 5 mL. The relationship between the average serum zinc level and disease activity was analyzed based on the DAS28 scoring scale for different RA groups. The significance threshold was set atp 〈 0.05. Data analyses were implemented in SPSS 22.0. RESULTS： There was a significant inverse relationship between the serum zinc levels and disease activity. Chi-square tests were used to compare zinc serum levels with respect to disease activity. There were significant differences in zinc levels among three groups of patients with different levels of disease severity, such that disease activity increased as the serum zinc level decreased （p 〈 0.001）. CONCLUSION： There was a significant inverse relationship between the serum zinc level and RA activity based on the DAS28 score. Therefore, it is recommended that mineral deficiencies should be addressed by optimizing the zinc supply along with other standard medications in order to reduce RA activity.

CLINICAL STUDY ON SERUM COPPER AND ZINC LEVELS AND COPPER/ZINC RATIO IN MALIGNANT LYMPHOMA

173 simultaneous determinations of serum copper levels (SCL), serum zinc levels (SZL) and copper/zinc ratio (CZR) were made by atomic absorption spectrophotometry in 51 previously untreated lymphoma patients. SCL and CZR were significantly higher in patients before treatment (mean value 22.97 μmol/L, 1.55, respectively) and in those who did not reach complete remission (mean 21.21 μmol/L, 1.36) as compared with the patients in complete remission (mean 16.36 μmol/L, 1.06) or normal controls (mean 15.67 μmol/L, 0.98). The mean value of SCL and CZR of patients in complete remission did not differ significantly from those of normal controls. Patients in stages HI and IV had higher SCL and CZR (mean 25.15 μmol/L, 1.79) than those in stage Ⅰ and Ⅱ (mean 19.30 μmol/L, 1.16). No significant difference in SZL was observed between the patient groups and normal controls. Thus, SCL and CZR may be used as prognostic indicators for monitoring disease activity and response to therapy in malignant lymphoma.