title: Low serum zinc in children with atopic eczema.
abstract: Serum zinc was measured by atomic absorption spectrophotometry in sixty-five children with atopic eczema and seventy-nine control children. The mean serum zinc of the patients, (11.4 +/- 2.0 mumol/l) was significantly lower than that of the controls (13.7 +/- 2.3 mumol/l, P less than 0.0001). There was no significant correlation between the patients' serum zinc concentration and either the height/weight centile or a subjective assessment of severity and extent of the eczema. Of eleven patients with serum zinc below 10 mumol/l, six had recurrent infections of the skin, a significantly greater proportion than in patients whose serum zinc was 10 mumol/l or above. It is suspected that the decreased plasma zinc concentration in children with eczema is a non-specific consequence of the dermatological disorder, and therefore there is no indication for zinc supplementation.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007057:Ichthyosis / Q000150:complications; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D012874:Skin Diseases, Infectious / Q000150:complications; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic; D015032:Zinc / Q000097:blood / Q000172:deficiency*
chemical_list: D015032:Zinc