Clinical trials assessing zinc supplementation in liver diseases do not show benefits in terms of clinical improvement or disease halting .
There are possible benefits of zinc supplementation on hepatic encephalopathy , however , this is based on limited evidence .
INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES Zinc deficiency has been associated with poor prognosis in chronic liver disease .
This systematic review and meta- analysis aim ed to evaluate the role of zinc supplementation in the management of chronic liver diseases .
Zinc supplementation prevents the increase of transaminase in chronic hepatitis C patients during combination therapy with pegylated interferon alpha-2b and ribavirin.
We investigated the effects of zinc supplementation on clinical observations in chronic hepatitis C patients receiving pegylated interferon ( PEG-IFN ) alpha-2b plus ribavirin combination therapy . Patients were r and omly allocated to receive 150 mg polaprezinc ( zinc group , n=11 ) or no supplement ( control group , n=12 ) daily in addition to PEG-IFN alpha-2b plus ribavirin therapy and 300 mg vitamin E and 600 mg vitamin C supplementation daily for 48 wk . Among the patients who continued treatment , the serum alanine aminotransferase ( ALT ) level at 12 wk in the zinc group was significantly lower than that in the control group . All patients in the zinc group ( 9/9 ) and 67 % ( 8/12 ) of the control patients at 24 wk , and all patients in the zinc group ( 7/7 ) and 60 % ( 6/10 ) of the control patients at 48 wk showed a decrease in serum ALT levels to within the normal range ( 7 - 44 U/L ) . HCV RNA disappeared in all patients ( 7/7 ) in the zinc group and in 8 of 10 control patients at 48 wk . Polaprezinc supplementation decreased plasma thiobarbituric acid reactive substances and prevented the decrease of polyunsaturated fatty acids of erythrocyte membrane phospholipids . No significant differences were observed in the dosage of medicines or other clinical data during the treatment . These observations indicate that polaprezinc supplementation may have induced some antioxidative functions in the liver which result ed in reduced hepatocyte injury during PEG-IFN alpha-2b plus ribavirin therapy
Clinical trials assessing zinc supplementation in liver diseases do not show benefits in terms of clinical improvement or disease halting .
There are possible benefits of zinc supplementation on hepatic encephalopathy , however , this is based on limited evidence .
INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES Zinc deficiency has been associated with poor prognosis in chronic liver disease .
This systematic review and meta- analysis aim ed to evaluate the role of zinc supplementation in the management of chronic liver diseases .