Background
Bronchial asthma is a common chronic respiratory disease affecting 1-18% of the population in different countries. Zinc is an essential dietary anti-oxidant and may have a special role in assisting the airways of asthmatic subjects.
Objective
The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between zinc status and childhood asthma whether atopic or non-atopic. The secondary objective was to investigate the relation between the zinc status with the severity of asthma and degree of its control.
Patients and methods
This case control study included 60 asthmatic children and 30 age and sex matched healthy children aged 6-12 years. They were selected from Benha University Hospital from April 2017 to December 2018. After taking informed verbal consents from the parents, our children were subjected to medical history taking, clinical examination, and. laboratory investigations including complete blood count, as well as serum IgE and serum zinc.
Results
Serum IgE and eosinophilic count were higher in atopic asthma than in the non-atopic one and the controls. Meanwhile, serum zinc lower in asthmatic children whether atopic or non-atopic with positive correlation with the severity of the disease and its control.
Conclusion
Serum zinc may play a major role in asthma severity and its control. However, further multicenter studies with greater sample sizes and adequate statistical power are required to prove the finding of the present study.