Serum zinc levels and its association with vitamin A levels among tuberculosis patients

INTRODUCTION: One-third of the total human population is infected with the Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This bacterium causes illness in up to 9 million people annually and is responsible for three deaths every minute world-wide. OBJECTIVE: To determine the association of serum zinc level with vitamin A level in active pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) cases. MATERIALS AND METHODS: It was a cross-sectional study of 208 active pulmonary TB patients aged 18-55 years. Blood samples were obtained from these patients to determine the serum zinc and serum retinol levels. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 30.56 (±11.38) years ranging from 18 years to 55 years. More than half (54.3%) of the patients were males and 63% were married. Body mass index of the patients was 18.40 ± 3.10. The serum zinc and vitamin A levels among the patients were 9.60 (±0.86) μmol/l and 0.77 (±0.22) μmol/l respectively. However, haemoglobin, white blood cell, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and serum albumin were 10.02 (±1.33) g/dl, 10076.01 (±1822.67) cell/mm3, 14.50 (±2.95) mm/h and 3.40 (±0.32) g/dl respectively. There was a strong correlation between serum zinc and vitamin A levels (r = 0.86, P < 0.01). Vitamin A levels were not significantly different among the different age groups; however, this was significantly (P = 0.001) higher in male (0.82 ± 0.23, 95% confidence interval [CI] =0.77-0.86) patients as compared to females (0.71 ± 0.20, 95% CI = 0.67-0.75). CONCLUSION: Zinc deficiency may indirectly influence the metabolism of Vitamin A via reduction of the levels of circulating proteins.