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"4. Zinc: effects on COVID-19 patients
In a recently concluded Conference on Coronavirus Disease of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID), Dr. Güerri-Fernández and colleagues presented the retrospective analysis data on the impact of zinc on the mortality of COVID-19 patients among the hospital admitted patients in Spain. Out of 249 studied patients, there was 8% (21 patients) mortality. The investigators found a significantly lower plasma level of zinc in COVID-19 patients who died (43 μg/dl) than the patients who survived (63.1 μg/dl). After adjusting different variables, the investigators showed each unit increase of plasma zinc at the time of hospital admission resulted in a 7% reduced risk of in-hospital mortality. Also, less than 50 μg/dl of a plasma zinc level at the hospital admission was associated with a 2.3-fold increased risk of in-hospital deaths as compared to the patients with a plasma zinc level of 50 μg/dl or higher, suggesting the importance of maintaining adequate zinc balance [21]. In a similar line of study, serum zinc level was found to be relatively low in samples collected from COVID-19 patients compared to the healthy counterparts. The average serum zinc level was remarkably low in the samples collected from the non-surviving COVID-19 patients (n = 6) as compared to the surviving COVID-19 patients (n = 29) [94]. In another uncontrolled case series study with COVID-19 patients, a high dose of oral zinc salt resulted in clinical recovery, improved oxygenation, and less shortness of breath among those patients [95]. A study conducted in Japan on 62 patients with COVID-19 showed a close association between low serum zinc level and severity of the disease [5]. The investigators also found serum zinc level as a predictive factor for a critical illness of patients with COVID-19 [5]. In a different study, the fasting zinc level in blood in patients with COVID-19 (n = 47) was significantly lower than the healthy controls (n = 45)."
"5. Conclusion
The holistic approach of maintaining an adequate nutritional balance with healthy eating habits and keeping an active lifestyle are likely to reduce the disease burden of the COVID-19 pandemic [103], [104], [105], [106], [107], [108], [109], [110]. Without the mass availability of effective vaccines or specific drugs to treat or control COVID-19 infection, social distancing and home isolation are the most recommended measures employed to minimize the spread of COVID-19-associated infection. However, consuming zinc has the potential to provide an additional shield against the illness [111], [112], [113], [114], possibly by reducing viral load and enhancing the immunity of the COVID-19 patients (Fig. 2). The elevated intracellular concentration of zinc could inactivate the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, the core viral replication enzyme [19], which could reduce viral replication and might have the potential to minimize the disease burden. Further studies will determine the relevance of experimental studies with zinc on human viral diseases. "
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7923946/Dated March 2021
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