21.12.11

Does zinc supplementation improve Crohn's symptoms?

Zinc from Wikipedia

Zinc from the world's healthiest foods

"Trace elements and vitamins at diagnosis in pediatric-onset inflammatory bowel disease" in Clin Pediatr (Phila) (2010)
"In newly diagnosed children with IBD, serum zinc levels are significantly lower compared with children without IBD."

"Zinc deficiency" in Current Opinion in Gastroenterology (2009)
"Zinc deficiency results in dysfunction of both humoral and cell-mediated immunity and increases the susceptibility to infection. Supplementation of zinc has been shown to reduce the incidence of infection as well as cellular damage from increased oxidative stress. Zinc deficiency is also associated with acute and chronic liver disease. Zinc supplementation protects against toxin-induced liver damage and is used as a therapy for hepatic encephalopathy in patients refractory to standard treatment. Zinc deficiency has also been implicated in diarrheal disease, and supplementation has been effective in both prophylaxis and treatment of acute diarrhea."

"The serum concentrations of zinc, copper and selenium in children with inflammatory bowel disease" in Cent Afr J Med (2002)
"Children with IBD in this study show abnormalities of the trace elements which is probably a result of inadequate intake, reduced absorption, increased intestinal loss due to impairment of the absorption as a result of the inflammatory process. The reduced free radical scavenging action of zinc and selenium as a result of their deficiency may contribute to the continued inflammatory process of IBD. The recommendation of the supplementation of these trace elements in IBD is further supported by the findings of this study in children."

Short report: zinc sulphate supplemen... [Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 1994] - PubMed - NCBI:
"Prior to zinc supplementation, the percentage of palmitic, stearic and oleic acids was significantly higher in Crohn's disease, while linoleic, arachidonic and n-3 fatty acids were reduced in Crohn's disease compared to healthy controls. Zinc supplementation abolished these pre-treatment differences in red-cell long-chain fatty acid profiles but did not affect plasma fatty acid values."

No comments: