Small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements containing different amounts of zinc along with diarrhea and malaria treatment increase iron and vitamin A status and reduce anemia prevalence, but do not affect zinc status in young Burkinabe children: a cluster-randomized trial.

Plain-language guide to PMID 28152989 (2017): double-blind randomized controlled trial of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc, anemia.

Key Facts

PMID: 28152989
Journal: BMC pediatrics
Year: 2017
Study type: Randomized Controlled Trial
Authors: Abbeddou S et al. (6 authors)
DOI: 10.1186/s12887-016-0765-9
Registered trial: NCT00944281

What This Study Did, in Plain Language

What Was Tested

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

Who Took Part

PubMed tags the participants as both men and women.

Using a two-stage cluster randomized trial design, communities were randomly assigned to the intervention cohort (IC) or NIC, and extended family compounds within the IC were randomly assigned to different treatment groups.

NIC children (n = 785) did not receive the intervention package.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized and double-blind.

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

Neither the participants nor the staff measuring them knew who was on Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc, so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

At 9 and 18 months, hemoglobin (Hb), zinc, iron and vitamin A status were assessed in a sub-group (n = 404).

Plasma concentrations of zinc (pZC), ferritin (pF), soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) and retinol-binding protein (RBP) were adjusted for inflammation.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Anemia, Biomarkers, Diarrhea, Dietary Supplements, Global Health, Incidence and Iron.

The authors tagged it with the keywords Hemoglobin, Lipid-based nutrient supplements, Plasma zinc concentration, Retinol-binding protein, SQ-LNS and Vitamin A.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized and double-blind study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in people with anemia.

Its findings take up roughly 6 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 2017 (BMC pediatrics), a journal based in England.

More context: the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc compound page, Anemia research.

Our Notes on the Compound

Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc: Magnesium is described as required for AMPK to function.

Source: PubMed record. This explanation is written by PeptideWhiz from the public record. For research and education only. Not medical advice; no dosing information is given.