Centre of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.
Research Centre for Gender, Health and Ageing, University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.
J Affect Disord. 2012 Jan;136(1-2):e31-e39. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2011.06.022. Epub 2011 Jul 27.
Depression is a significant public health problem. Pre-clinical studies suggest a potential role of zinc in reducing or preventing depressive symptoms. Many epidemiological studies have examined the association of low zinc status with depression; however, clinical trials on the effect of zinc supplementation in depression are limited. This review aimed to synthesise results from all published randomised controlled trials on the efficacy of zinc supplementation for reducing or preventing depressive symptoms.
Six databases were searched over all years of records until March 2011. All randomised controlled trials with a comparison group, that examined zinc supplementation as the intervention and depressive symptoms as the primary outcome were included. Pairs of reviewers extracted key information of study characteristics and outcomes, and assessed the quality of each study.
Four randomised controlled trials met inclusion criteria. In studies that examined the effects of zinc supplementation as an adjunct to antidepressants drug treatment, zinc significantly lowered depressive symptom scores of depressed patients. There is less clear evidence on the effectiveness of zinc supplementation alone on depressive symptoms of non-depressed healthy subjects. The overall study quality was rated 'moderate'.
There are limited trials examining the effects of zinc supplementation on depressive symptoms. An overall pooled estimate of effect for all included studies could not be calculated and evidence was difficult to summarise because of substantial heterogeneity.
Evidence suggests potential benefits of zinc supplementation as a stand-alone intervention or as an adjunct to conventional antidepressant drug therapy for depression. However, there are methodological limitations in existing studies and so further well-designed, adequately powered research is required.
抑郁症是一个严重的公共健康问题。临床前研究表明锌在减轻或预防抑郁症状方面可能具有一定作用。许多流行病学研究已经检验了低锌状态与抑郁症之间的关联；然而，锌补充剂对抑郁症影响的临床试验是有限的。本综述旨在综合所有已发表的关于锌补充剂对减轻或预防抑郁症状的疗效的随机对照试验的结果。
六个数据库在所有记录的年份中进行了搜索，直到 2011 年 3 月。所有有对照组的随机对照试验，将锌补充剂作为干预措施，将抑郁症状作为主要结局纳入研究。两组评审员提取研究特征和结局的关键信息，并评估了每一项研究的质量。
四项随机对照试验符合纳入标准。在研究锌补充剂作为抗抑郁药物治疗的辅助治疗对抑郁影响的试验中，锌显著降低了抑郁患者的抑郁症状评分。关于锌单独补充对非抑郁健康受试者的抑郁症状的有效性的证据较少。总的研究质量被评为“中等”。
有关于锌补充对抑郁症状影响的试验有限。由于存在很大的异质性，因此无法对所有纳入的研究进行总体效果的汇总估计，也很难对证据进行总结。
有证据表明，锌补充作为单独的干预措施或作为传统抗抑郁药物治疗的辅助手段对抑郁症可能具有潜在的益处。然而，现有研究存在方法学上的局限性，因此需要进一步进行设计良好、充分有力的研究。
