title: Comparative analysis of serum zinc, copper, magnesium, calcium and iron level in acute and chronic patients of visceral leishmaniasis.
abstract: METHODS
  Chronic visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is an increasingly common problem in disease endemic states of India. Identification of prognosis risk factor in patients with VL may lead to preventive actions, toward decreasing its mortality in chronic individuals. Though serum Zinc levels are decreased in patients of VL, limited information is available regarding trace elements status in acute and chronic VL patients. The present study was undertaken to compare serum trace elements concentrations in acute and chronic VL patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Acute (mean age=28.64 years), chronic (mean age=23.68 years) VL patients and healthy controls (mean age=23.05 years) who agreed to provide blood specimens for laboratory investigations participated in this study. Serum zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), magnesium (Mg) and calcium (Ca) were measured spectrophotometrically using chemistry analyzer.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Serum Zn concentration was comparatively much decreased in chronic VL than to acute ones (p=0.007) while serum Mg was higher in chronic VL than acute (p=0.002) ones. There was no statistically significant difference between acute and chronic VL in serum concentrations of Cu, Fe and Ca.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Serum Zn levels were much decreased and serum Mg were increased in chronic VL as compared to acute cases. The serum concentrations of Fe and Ca did not show any difference between two groups. The serum Cu was increased in both groups but more in chronic ones. Serum Zn and Mg could be a potential prognosis factor for chronic VL patients. We hypothesize zinc supplementation as a chemo preventive agent for chronic VL cases, particularly in endemic areas.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Clinical Biochemistry, Division of Biochemistry, Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (Indian Council of Medical Research), Patna, Bihar, India. drcslal@sify.com
authors.forename: Chandra S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Lal
authors.forename: Sanjay
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Alok
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ranjan
authors.forename: Vidya N
authors.initials: VN
authors.lastname: Rabidas
authors.forename: Neena
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Verma
authors.forename: Krishna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pandey
authors.forename: Rakesh B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Verma
authors.forename: Sushmita
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Das
authors.forename: Dharmendra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Pradeep
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Das
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D002118:Calcium / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003300:Copper / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000097:blood*; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000097:blood*; D008274:Magnesium / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D055815:Young Adult; D015032:Zinc / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D003300:Copper; D007501:Iron; D008274:Magnesium; D015032:Zinc; D002118:Calcium