Comparative study of serum zinc concentrations in benign and malignant prostate disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Many studies have investigated the relationship between serum zinc concentration and prostatic disease, but have shown inconsistent results. Hence, we performed a systematic literature review and meta-analysis to assess the correlation between serum zinc concentration and prostate disease. Systematic literature searches were conducted with PubMed, EMBASE, Science Direct/Elsevier, MEDLINE, CNKI and the Cochrane Library up to June 2015 for studies that involved the relationship between serum zinc concentration and prostate disease. Fourteen studies were identified from the databases. Our results illustrated that the serum zinc concentrations in prostate cancer patients were significantly lower than those in Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) patients and normal controls (SMD (95% CI), −0.94 [−1.57, −0.32]; −1.18 [−1.90, −0.45]). However, the serum zinc concentrations in BPH patients were significantly higher than those in normal controls (SMD (95% CI) 1.77 [0.15, 3.39]). The present study showed that different levels of serum zinc concentrations are correlated with different prostatic disease. Serum zinc concentration may be used as a tool for the diagnosis and screening of prostate disease. But, further studies with well-designed larger sample studies are needed in this field to further clarify the correlation between serum zinc concentration and prostate disease.