ReviewFrontiers in immunology
The Potential Impact of Zinc Supplementation on COVID-19 Pathogenesis.
Review in Frontiers in immunology. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 167 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
167 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 343 citations in OpenAlex.
- Zinc-Induced Hematologic Toxicities: A Systematic Review of Descriptive Studies.Biological trace element research · 2026Pooled it
- COVID-19 prophylaxis with doxycycline and zinc in health care workers: a prospective, randomized, double-blind clinical trial.International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases · 2022Trial
- A pilot double-blind safety and feasibility randomized controlled trial of high-dose intravenous zinc in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.Journal of medical virology · 2021Trial
- Prediction of survival odds in COVID-19 by zinc, age and selenoprotein P as composite biomarker.Redox biology · 2021Trial
- Serum zinc level independently predicts need for inpatient intubation among patients hospitalized with COVID-19: A prospective observational study.Nutrition in clinical practice : official publication of the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition · 2026Observational
- Trace Elements and Viral Infectious Diseases: Dual Roles in Pathogenesis and Immunity.Infectious disease reports · 2026Review
- Mechanisms and Therapeutic Potential of Nutritional Immunity.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Case Report: Identification of aFrontiers in genetics · 2026Article
- A role for zinc in the mitigation of zoonotic disease attributable to RNA viruses-a review with application to One Health perspective.Animal frontiers : the review magazine of animal agriculture · 2025Article
- Medication, Nutrition, and Hygiene in COVID-19 Prevention and Treatment: A Comprehensive Narrative Review.Global challenges (Hoboken, NJ) · 2025Review
- Impact of zinc deficiency on mortality risk in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a retrospective analysis.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Article
- Association of zinc deficiency and clinical symptoms, inflammatory markers, severity of COVID-19 in hospitalized children.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Article
- Antioxidant Nutraceuticals: Their Adjunct Role in the Management of COVID-19 Infections and Post-COVID Syndrome.Infectious disorders drug targets · 2025Review
- Coordination chemistry suggests that independently observed benefits of metformin and ZnBiometals : an international journal on the role of metal ions in biology, biochemistry, and medicine · 2024Article
- Analysis of Ferritin, Hepcidin, Zinc, C-Reactive Protein and IL-6 Levels in COVID-19 in Patients Living at Different Altitudes in Peru.Biomedicines · 2024Article
- Zinc Toxicity: Understanding the Limits.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Exploring the Interplay of Food Security, Safety, and Psychological Wellness in the COVID-19 Era: Managing Strategies for Resilience and Adaptation.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Zinc Deficiency And sTNF-RII Are Associated With Worse COVID-19 Outcomes.The Journal of nutrition · 2024Observational
- Role of Antioxidant Therapy in the Treatment and Prognosis of COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Current developments in nutrition · 2024Article
- A systematic review: The relationship of COVID-19 to iron, zinc, and vitamin D.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2023Article
107 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
During the current corona pandemic, new therapeutic options against this viral disease are urgently desired. Due to the rapid spread and immense number of affected individuals worldwide, cost-effective, globally available, and safe options with minimal side effects and simple application are extremely warranted. This review will therefore discuss the potential of zinc as preventive and therapeutic agent alone or in combination with other strategies, as zinc meets all the above described criteria. While a variety of data on the association of the individual zinc status with viral and respiratory tract infections are available, study evidence regarding COVID-19 is so far missing but can be assumed as was indicated by others and is detailed in this perspective, focusing on re-balancing of the immune response by zinc supplementation. Especially, the role of zinc in viral-induced vascular complications has barely been discussed, so far. Interestingly, most of the risk groups described for COVID-19 are at the same time groups that were associated with zinc deficiency. As zinc is essential to preserve natural tissue barriers such as the respiratory epithelium, preventing pathogen entry, for a balanced function of the immune system and the redox system, zinc deficiency can probably be added to the factors predisposing individuals to infection and detrimental progression of COVID-19. Finally, due to its direct antiviral properties, it can be assumed that zinc administration is beneficial for most of the population, especially those with suboptimal zinc status.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.