Zinc supplementation decreases incidence of infections in the elderly: effect of zinc on generation of cytokines and oxidative stress.

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in this randomized controlled trial publication.

The primary objective was to determine the effect of zinc on the incidence of total infections in healthy elderly subjects.

The secondary objective was to determine the effect of zinc on cytokines and oxidative stress markers.

Who Took Part

The age groups tagged for this paper are teenagers, adults, middle-aged adults and older adults, both men and women.

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of zinc supplementation was conducted in elderly subjects.

Fifty healthy subjects of both sexes aged 55-87 y and inclusive of all ethnic groups were recruited for this study from a senior center.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study.

Because people in this Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

Blinding on both sides kept the participants and researchers unaware of who received Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc.

Some participants received a placebo instead of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc, giving a reference point.

Incidence of infections during the supplementation period was documented.

The generation of inflammatory cytokines, T helper 1 and T helper 2 cytokines, and oxidative stress markers and the plasma concentrations of zinc were measured at baseline and after supplementation.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Cytokines, Dietary Supplements, Incidence, Infections, Oxidative Stress, Th1 Cells and Th2 Cells.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc.

Results are reported in around 4 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 2007 (The American journal of clinical nutrition), a journal based in United States.

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