Serum zinc levels in children with acute gastroenteritis.
BACKGROUND
The aim of the present study was to determine the serum zinc levels on admission and 7-10 days after clinical recovery from acute gastroenteritis of <8 days' duration.


METHODS
This prospective study included 82 infants aged 2-24 months who had no associated bacterial infection, chronic disease, prior antibiotic use, moderate or severe malnutrition or dysentery. Forty-one healthy children formed the control group.


RESULTS
The mean serum zinc level on admission (Zn1) was 11.85 +/- 2.83 micromol/L and at 7-10 days after recovery (Zn2) was 10.92 +/- 2.17 micromol/L; mean serum zinc level of the control group was 11.81 +/- 3.45 micromol/L. Zn2 was significantly lower than Zn1, but there was no statistical difference between the mean of the control group and Zn1 and Zn2. When dehydrated patients were excluded from the patient group, Zn1 and Zn2 did not differ. Although asymptomatic, 39% of the control group had low zinc. Serum zinc levels were not affected by sex, age, clinical characteristics of the patients or severity of gastroenteritis.


CONCLUSIONS
Serum zinc levels of the patients admitted with acute gastroenteritis without any other disease and without moderate or severe malnutrition were not affected by disease state. Gastroenteritis did not further decrease serum zinc levels in patients with asymptomatic or subclinical zinc deficiency.
Olmez
Akgün
A
Division of Child Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, Hacettepe University Facutly of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey. dr_akgun@yahoo.com
Yalçin
S Songül
SS
Yurdakök
Kadriye
K
Coskun
Turgay
T
D000208:Acute Disease; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic; D015032:Zinc / Q000097:blood*
D015415:Biomarkers; D015032:Zinc