Zinc Supplementation for One Year Among Children with Cystic Fibrosis Does Not Decrease Pulmonary Infection.

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial looks at Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc.

This double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial was conducted among children with cystic fibrosis to assess the effect of zinc supplementation on the need for antibiotics and pulmonary function tests.

Why It Was Studied

Children with cystic fibrosis may have a deficiency of micronutrients, including zinc, which may affect their susceptibility to infections.

There is a paucity of data on zinc supplementation among children with cystic fibrosis.

Who Took Part

PubMed indexes the participants as young children, children and teenagers, both men and women.

Their serum zinc was estimated at baseline and at 12 months of enrollment.

During each visit, the children underwent a pulmonary function test and sputum culture.

How the Study Was Run

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

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

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

The comparison arm used a placebo, so changes seen with Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc could be set against what happens without it.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Anti-Bacterial Agents, Cystic Fibrosis, Dietary Supplements, Forced Expiratory Volume, Hospitalization, Pseudomonas and Respiratory Tract Infections.

The authors tagged it with the keywords FEV1, micronutrients, pseudomonas infection and zinc supplementation.

What This Means in Plain Language

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

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 7 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2016 (Respiratory care), a journal based in United States.

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