ReviewPLoS neglected tropical diseases2021
Zinc against COVID-19? Symptom surveillance and deficiency risk groups.
Review in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
31 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 73 citations in OpenAlex.
- Role of Metals on SARS-CoV-2 Infection: a Review of Recent Epidemiological Studies.Current environmental health reports · 2023Pooled it
- Relation of Serum Copper Status to Survival in COVID-19.Nutrients · 2021Trial
- The Role of Vitamins, Magnesium, and Trace Elements in COVID-19 Treatment and Post-COVID-19 Rehabilitation: An Updated Overview.Current medicinal chemistry · 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
- An overview on role of nutrition on COVID-19 immunity: Accumulative review from available studies.Clinical nutrition open science · 2023Review
- COVID-19: Reducing the risk via diet and lifestyle.Journal of integrative medicine · 2023Review
- Association of trace element status in COVID-19 patients with disease severity.Journal of trace elements in medicine and biology : organ of the Society for Minerals and Trace Elements (GMS) · 2022Article
- Content of Essential Trace Elements in the Hair of Residents of the Caspian Region of the Republic of Kazakhstan Who Recovered from COVID-19.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- The impact of vitamin and mineral supplements usage prior to COVID-19 infection on disease severity and hospitalization.Bosnian journal of basic medical sciences · 2022Article
- Clinical nutrition approach in medical management of COVID-19 hospitalized patients: A narrative review.Nutrition and health · 2022Review
- Suboptimal Consumption of Relevant Immune System Micronutrients Is Associated with a Worse Impact of COVID-19 in Spanish Populations.Nutrients · 2022Article
- The Role of Zinc in the Pathogenesis of Lung Disease.Nutrients · 2022Review
- Antiviral and immunological activity of zinc and possible role in COVID-19.The British journal of nutrition · 2022Review
- Perspectives on nano-nutraceuticals to manage pre and post COVID-19 infections.Biotechnology reports (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2022Article
- Gustatory and Saliva Secretory Dysfunctions in COVID-19 Patients with Zinc Deficiency.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Associations of Nutritional Behavior and Gut Microbiota with the Risk of COVID-19 in Healthy Young Adults in Poland.Nutrients · 2022Article
- The Effect of Circulating Zinc, Selenium, Copper and Vitamin KNutrients · 2022Article
- The Role of Diet and Supplementation of Natural Products in COVID-19 Prevention.Biological trace element research · 2022Article
- Functional constituents of plant-based foods boost immunity against acute and chronic disorders.Open life sciences · 2022Review
- A Review on the Antiviral Activity of Functional Foods Against COVID-19 and Viral Respiratory Tract Infections.International journal of general medicine · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
A wide variety of symptoms is associated with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, and these symptoms can overlap with other conditions and diseases. Knowing the distribution of symptoms across diseases and individuals can support clinical actions on timelines shorter than those for drug and vaccine development. Here, we focus on zinc deficiency symptoms, symptom overlap with other conditions, as well as zinc effects on immune health and mechanistic zinc deficiency risk groups. There are well-studied beneficial effects of zinc on the immune system including a decreased susceptibility to and improved clinical outcomes for infectious pathogens including multiple viruses. Zinc is also an anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative stress agent, relevant to some severe Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) symptoms. Unfortunately, zinc deficiency is common worldwide and not exclusive to the developing world. Lifestyle choices and preexisting conditions alone can result in zinc deficiency, and we compile zinc risk groups based on a review of the literature. It is also important to distinguish chronic zinc deficiency from deficiency acquired upon viral infection and immune response and their different supplementation strategies. Zinc is being considered as prophylactic or adjunct therapy for COVID-19, with 12 clinical trials underway, highlighting the relevance of this trace element for global pandemics. Using the example of zinc, we show that there is a critical need for a deeper understanding of essential trace elements in human health, and the resulting deficiency symptoms and their overlap with other conditions. This knowledge will directly support human immune health for decreasing susceptibility, shortening illness duration, and preventing progression to severe cases in the current and future pandemics.
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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.