SynthesisThe American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene2020
Zinc Supplementation Reduces Common Cold Duration among Healthy Adults: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials with Micronutrients Supplementation.
Synthesis in The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 38 citations in OpenAlex.
- Zinc for prevention and treatment of the common cold.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Select Dietary Supplement Ingredients for Preserving and Protecting the Immune System in Healthy Individuals: A Systematic Review.Nutrients · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Micronutrients Deficiency, Supplementation and Novel Coronavirus Infections-A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Nutrients · 2021Pooled it
- The Effect of a Multivitamin and Mineral Supplement on Immune Function in Healthy Older Adults: A Double-Blind, Randomized, Controlled Trial.Nutrients · 2020Trial
- Trial
- Safety and feasibility of oral zinc for patients withEClinicalMedicine · 2026Article
- The Role of Zinc in Pediatric Respiratory Infections: Evidence from Clinical Trials and Real-World Studies.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Between Deficiency and Excess: The Dual Role of Selected Dietary Supplements in Immune Health.Cureus · 2026Review
- Structures, Mechanisms, and Physiological Functions of Zinc Transporters in Different Biological Kingdoms.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Article
- Complementary and alternative medicine use during the COVID-19 pandemic: Community pharmacists' knowledge, attitudes, and practices.Research in social & administrative pharmacy : RSAP · 2023Article
- Relationship between Plasma Levels of Zinc and Magnesium with the Treatment Process and Mortality Risk in COVID-19 Patients.Tanaffos · 2023Article
- Review
- Efficacy and Safety of Ganduqing Granules in Treating the Common Cold: A Multicenter, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2022Article
- Ingestion, Immunity, and Infection: Nutrition and Viral Respiratory Tract Infections.Frontiers in immunology · 2022Review
- Western Dietary Pattern Antioxidant Intakes and Oxidative Stress: Importance During the SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 Pandemic.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2021Article
- The Potential Impact of Zinc Supplementation on COVID-19 Pathogenesis.Frontiers in immunologyReview
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The common cold had resulted in significant economic and social burden worldwide. The effect of vitamin C on preventing common cold in healthy adults has been investigated extensively, but not that of other micronutrients. Thus, we aim to assess the effects of providing micronutrients singly through oral means, on cold incidence, and/or management (in terms of cold duration and symptom severity) in healthy adults from systematically searched randomized controlled trials. From four electronic databases, 660 identified studies were screened and data were extracted from 20 studies (zinc, 10; vitamin D, 8; and vitamins A and E, 2). The quality of selected studies was assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tool and certainty in the outcomes was assessed with the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach. The review found that micronutrients supplementation, except vitamin C, may not prevent cold incidence or reduce symptom severity among healthy adults. However, zinc supplementation was observed to potentially reduce cold duration by 2.25 days (when zinc is provided singly, 95% CI: -3.39, -1.12). This suggests that zinc supplementation may reduce the overall burden due to common cold among healthy adults.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.