Zinc status in Egyptian children with connective tissue diseases

ABSTRACT

In order to evaluate the metabolic handling of zinc in children with connective tissue diseases and to correlate zinc status among these patients with the type and activity of the disease, 52 children were enrolled in this study. A significant deficiency of plasma zinc levels was observed among patients compared with controls. Also, 2 hours after oral zinc supplementation, the mean% change of plasma zinc levels from basal values were significantly lower in patients than the controls. Concerning the 24 hours urinary zinc content, it was significantly reduced in patients compared with controls. However, the type, the activity or the duration of the disease did not influence zinc status in the patients