Antioxidant effect of zinc in humans.

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Zinc in this randomized controlled trial publication.

Oxidative stress is known to be an important contributing factor in many chronic diseases.

Plasma zinc, MDA, HAE, and 8-OHdG levels; LPS-induced TNF-alpha and IL-1beta mRNA; and ex vivo TNF-alpha-induced NF-kappaB activity in mononuclear cells (MNC) were determined before and after supplementation.

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 10 volunteers were involved.

PubMed indexes the participants as adults and middle-aged adults, both men and women.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized, placebo-controlled and parallel-group study.

The volunteers were allocated by chance, so the Zinc group and the comparison group should start out alike.

The comparison arm used a placebo, so changes seen with Zinc could be set against what happens without it.

Groups ran in parallel: each of the volunteers stayed in one arm throughout.

What Was Measured

Plasma zinc, MDA, HAE, and 8-OHdG levels; LPS-induced TNF-alpha and IL-1beta mRNA; and ex vivo TNF-alpha-induced NF-kappaB activity in mononuclear cells (MNC) were determined before and after supplementation.

PubMed files the paper under topics including 8-Hydroxy-2'-Deoxyguanosine, Antioxidants, Cells, Cultured, DNA Adducts, Deoxyguanosine, HL-60 Cells and Interleukin-1.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, placebo-controlled and parallel-group study of Zinc in 10 volunteers.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The publication is from 2004 (Free radical biology & medicine), a journal based in United States.

More context: the related Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc library page, all human trials.