AUTHOR=Acevedo-Murillo Jorge Alberto , García León Miguel Leonardo , Firo-Reyes Verónica , Santiago-Cordova Jorge Luis , Gonzalez-Rodriguez Alejandra Pamela , Wong-Chew Rosa María 

TITLE=Zinc Supplementation Promotes a Th1 Response and Improves Clinical Symptoms in Fewer Hours in Children With Pneumonia Younger Than 5 Years Old. A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pediatrics

VOLUME=Volume 7 - 2019

YEAR=2019

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pediatrics/articles/10.3389/fped.2019.00431

DOI=10.3389/fped.2019.00431

ISSN=2296-2360

ABSTRACT=Background: Pneumonia caused 704,000 deaths in children younger than 5 years in 2015. Zinc is an important micronutrient due to its role in the immune function.  Since 2004, WHO recommends zinc supplementation for children with diarrhea to shorten the duration and decrease severity. Zinc supplementation for children with pneumonia is controversial.  Methods: A randomized, controlled, clinical trial was conducted, 103 children 1 month to 5 years old with pneumonia were included. Zinc or placebo were given during hospitalization. Clinical symptoms were recorded, a blood draw was obtained to determine serum zinc levels, lymphoproliferation and cytokines at the hospitalization and at the discharge of the patient; and a nasal wash was obtained to detect viral or bacterial pathogens by multiplex RT-PCR. Results: Zinc supplementation improved in less hours the clinical status (76+7 vs 105+8, p=0.01), the respiratory rate (37+6 vs 57+7, p=0.04) and the oxygen saturation (53+7 vs 87+9, p=0.007) compared to the placebo group. An increase in the IFNg and IL-2 after treatment in the zinc group was observed. Conclusions: Zinc supplementation improved some clinical symptoms in children with pneumonia in less hours and induced a cellular immune response.
The trial was retrospectively registered in ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT03690583. URL https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03690583?term=zinc+children&cond=Pneumonia&draw=2&rank=1