Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39905453›Full record

ArticleJournal of eating disorders2025

Zinc levels in severe eating disorders.

Kara Leach, Dan V Blalock, Judy Oakes, Melanie Hebert, Marina Foster, Philip S Mehler

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of eating disorders, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Observational
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Kara LeachACUTE Center for Eating Disorders and Severe Malnutrition at Denver Health, 723 Delaware St, Denver, CO, 80204, USA. Kara.Leach@dhha.org.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6055-8933
Dan V BlalockCenter of Innovation to Accelerate Discovery and Practice Transformation, Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.
Judy OakesACUTE Center for Eating Disorders and Severe Malnutrition at Denver Health, 723 Delaware St, Denver, CO, 80204, USA.
Melanie HebertACUTE Center for Eating Disorders and Severe Malnutrition at Denver Health, 723 Delaware St, Denver, CO, 80204, USA.
Marina FosterACUTE Center for Eating Disorders and Severe Malnutrition at Denver Health, 723 Delaware St, Denver, CO, 80204, USA.
Philip S MehlerACUTE Center for Eating Disorders and Severe Malnutrition at Denver Health, 723 Delaware St, Denver, CO, 80204, USA.

Funding

HSRD VA IK2 HX003085
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeSevere eating and feeding disorders including Anorexia Nervosa of both restricting (AN-R) and binge-purge (AN-BP) subtypes and Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) lead to multiple macronutrient and micronutrient deficiencies, including zinc, in the setting of inadequate dietary intake. We investigated whether zinc levels correlated with severe malnutrition, with particular subtypes of eating disorders (EDs), and the effect of the refeeding process.

methodsThis prospective study included 92 adult patients with severe AN or ARFID hospitalized in a medical stabilization unit. Denver Health staff were recruited as controls. Blood samples were drawn within four days of admission and 72 h of discharge. All inferential analyses were performed using general linear models.

resultsAdmission zinc levels were statistically significantly lower in cases compared to controls. Admission zinc levels were significantly higher for patients with AN-R than patients with AN-BP. Zinc levels decreased significantly during treatment in cases, compared to controls. ED diagnoses and percent ideal body weight (%IBW) did not appear to predict changes in zinc levels during admission.

conclusionsGiven zinc's pervasive roles in metabolism throughout the body as well as common symptoms of deficiency including impaired taste and smell, decreased appetite, and depression, zinc levels could be relevant to the high relapse rate in severe ED. The observed decrease in zinc, which was larger in cases than controls, during refeeding suggests the possibility of a "refeeding hypozincemia" which may present a new therapeutic target. These characteristics make zinc an intriguing focus of future study that could impact the recidivism rate in severe ED. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE III: Evidence obtained from well-designed cohort or case-control analytic studies.

Indexed as

Anorexia nervosaARFIDMalnutritionSevere eating disorderZinc

Identifiers

PMID39905453
PMCPMC11796106

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Registered trials

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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.