The link between zinc deficiency and pneumonia

[sweeney]

Hiyya,

 

Please could someone give me a helping hand...

Im working on an assignment linking the effects of zinc deficiency on nutritional status and pneumonia...

 

I understand that zinc deficiency affects: Th1 cytokine production, B lymphocyte help, antibody production, and causes an imbalance in th1 and th2....

 

Is anyone able to help me with the reason why there's a link to pneumonia?... like, what is it that zinc deficiency does that leaves us susceptible to pneumonia??

 

anyhelp would be most appreciated..

 

 

Thankyou

[Blahah]

This paper (free PDF) summarizes it better than I ever could:

 

Neurath et al. (2002)

 

[jimmydasaint]

IMHO, the jury still seems to be out about the effects of zinc, although it appears to have a relatively beneficial effect on the immune system. For example:

Zinc is reported to prevent pneumonia,(2–5) and to prevent and treat diarrhoea.(4,6–8). It might act in the acute phase response to infection, (9,10) helping to boost the body’s immune response through a defence cascade, beginning with mobilisation and sequestration of zinc to metallothionein-rich tissue, rapid upregulation of immune defence-specific protein synthesis, activation of immune defence activity such as macrophages, lymphocytes, and natural killer cells, and antibody-dependent cytotoxicity. (11)

The Lancet

 

However, to provide a more balanced view, it is also possible that in studies where zinc has been of benefit to patients, a confounding factor is that administration of zinc helps to fight zinc deficiency in the first instance:

 

A pharmacologic effect of zinc is plausible (5), but, as in the report by Bose et al, it is widely accepted that the beneficial effects of zinc supplements in the prevention and treatment of diarrhea and pneumonia are most likely to be due to the prevention or correction of zinc deficiency. Hence, beneficial effects of zinc supplements in the acute management of pneumonia are not to be expected unless the infant or child is zinc deficient. As has been typical for the reported studies of zinc administration used to prevent or treat diarrhea or pneumonia, Bose et al do not include data on habitual dietary zinc intake or, indeed, dietary zinc during hospitalization. The mean baseline serum zinc concentration in their study was higher than that in the 2 studies they discussed that had positive results (5, 6), but a wide range of mean baseline serum or plasma zinc concentrations has been reported in studies in which zinc supplements have had a positive effect in preventing diarrhea and pneumonia (2) or in treating diarrhea (4). In the placebo groups, serum zinc was significantly higher at discharge than at baseline in all 3 studies, which was attributed to a cessation of the effects of the acute phase response. The differential between the study of Bose et al (7) and the 2 positive studies (5, 6) was maintained, however, and the mean for the former was well within a normal range.

Link to article

Edited March 12, 2011 by jimmydasaint