Tahan Fulya, Karakukcu Cigdem
Department of Pediatric Allergy, Erciyes University School of Medicine, Kayseri, Turkey.
Pediatr Pulmonol. 2006 Jul;41(7):630-4. doi: 10.1002/ppul.20413.
The increase in prevalence of asthma is strongly dependent on environmental factors, including diet. Significant decreases in the intake of dietary zinc may be an important contributing factor to the increasing incidence of wheezing and asthma, but there have been no studies evaluating zinc levels in wheezy infants. Our objective was to investigate the zinc status of wheezy infants. Wheezy infants (n = 34) and healthy children (n = 14) were included in the study. Total IgE and eosinophil counts were obtained, and skin testing was done with a battery of 25 antigens with appropriate positive and negative controls. Levels of zinc were determined in hair, using a Polarized Zeeman Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (Hitachi Z-800). No significant difference was observed in peripheral blood eosinophil counts and total IgE levels among groups (P > 0.05). Hair zinc levels were significantly lower in wheezy infants (P < 0.001). In conclusion, hair zinc levels were lower in wheezy infants than in healthy controls, suggesting that zinc deficiency may influence the risk of wheezing in early childhood.
哮喘患病率的增加在很大程度上取决于环境因素，包括饮食。膳食锌摄入量的显著下降可能是喘息和哮喘发病率上升的一个重要促成因素，但尚无研究评估喘息婴儿的锌水平。我们的目的是调查喘息婴儿的锌状况。该研究纳入了喘息婴儿（n = 34）和健康儿童（n = 14）。获取了总IgE和嗜酸性粒细胞计数，并使用一组25种抗原及适当的阳性和阴性对照进行了皮肤试验。使用偏振塞曼原子吸收分光光度计（日立Z - 800）测定头发中的锌水平。各组外周血嗜酸性粒细胞计数和总IgE水平之间未观察到显著差异（P > 0.05）。喘息婴儿的头发锌水平显著较低（P < 0.001）。总之，喘息婴儿的头发锌水平低于健康对照组，这表明锌缺乏可能影响幼儿喘息的风险。
