title: Assessment of serum zinc levels of patients with thalassemia compared to their siblings.
abstract: Zinc (Zn) is essential for appropriate growth and proper immune function, both of which may be impaired in thalassemia children. Factors that can affect serum Zn levels in these patients may be related to their disease or treatment or nutritional causes. We assessed the serum Zn levels of children with thalassemia paired with a sibling. Zn levels were obtained from 30 children in Islamabad, Pakistan. Serum Zn levels and anthropometric data measures were compared among siblings. Thalassemia patients' median age was 4.5 years (range 1-10.6 years) and siblings was 7.8 years (range 1.1-17 years). The median serum Zn levels for both groups were within normal range: 100 μg/dL (10 μg/dL-297 μg/dL) for patients and 92 μg/dL (13 μg/dL-212 μg/dL) for siblings. There was no significant difference between the two groups. Patients' serum Zn values correlated positively with their corresponding siblings (r = 0.635, P < 0.001). There were no correlations between patients' Zn levels, height for age Z-scores, serum ferritin levels, chelation, or blood counts (including both total leukocyte and absolute lymphocyte counts). Patients' serum Zn values correlated with their siblings' values. In this study, patients with thalassemia do not seem to have disease-related Zn deficiency.
authors.affiliation: Cure2Children Foundation, Via Marconi 30, 50131 Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: El Missiry
authors.affiliation: Cure2Children Foundation, Via Marconi 30, 50131 Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hamed Hussein
authors.affiliation: Cure2Children Foundation, Via Marconi 30, 50131 Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Sadaf
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khalid
authors.affiliation: Children's Hospital Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Naila
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yaqub
authors.affiliation: Children's Hospital Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.affiliation: Children's Hospital Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Fatima
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Itrat
authors.affiliation: Cure2Children Foundation, Via Marconi 30, 50131 Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Cornelio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Uderzo
authors.affiliation: Cure2Children Foundation, Via Marconi 30, 50131 Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Lawrence
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5756-8567
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Faulkner