Plasma Zinc Levels in Patients with Chronic Leg Ulcers at University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria

BACKGROUND: Chronic leg ulcers are defects in the skin below the level of knee persisting for more than six weeks and shows no tendency to heal after three or more months. Zinc is a necessary component of several DNA & RNA polymerases and transferases essential for cell proliferation. Zinc deficiency is known to retard wound healing by preventing cellular mitosis and disturbance of fibroblast function and collagen synthesis. This study compares zinc levels in patients with chronic leg ulcers with apparently healthy individuals. METHODS: Five milliliters of venous blood samples was taken from twelve patients with chronic leg ulcers. Five milliliters of venous blood samples was also taken from a control group, who do not have chronic leg ulcers, but are matched with the cases in age (± 5 yr), sex, socioeconomic status and body mass index (± 3 kg/m(2)). Plasma zinc levels was determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Principal exposure include the socio-demographic characteristics of patients, duration of symptoms before presentation, signs of ulcer–site, number, size, depth, base, edge, presence of discharge, enlarged lymph nodes and local neurovascular integrity. The outcome variables include plasma levels of biochemical markers measured –Zinc, serum albumin, total protein. RESULTS: The plasma zinc levels was significantly lower (P<0.01) in patients with chronic leg ulcer (92.808±16.689 µg/dl) as compared with control subjects (109.413 ± 9.304 µg/dl). There was no statistical difference in albumin and protein levels in both groups. CONCLUSION: Patients with chronic leg ulcers have significantly lower plasma zinc levels than apparently healthy individuals.