The Role of Zinc in Chronic Kidney Disease Patients on Hemodialysis: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Objective: Zinc has been studied for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and also for its immune function in end stage renal disease patients. The aim of this review is to clarify wheth-er there is a relationship between zinc levels and ESRD patients in hemodialysis. Methodology: A search through LILACS and MEDLINE database using the keywords " zinc " , " chronic kidney disease " and " hemodialysis " was performed. Articles in English and Portuguese performed in humans with the previous words were selected. Studies with subjects younger than 18 years of age were ex-cluded. Moreover, exclusion criteria included patients with absence of diagnosis of end stage renal disease and not in hemodialysis; patients treated with peritoneal dialysis, absence of abstract available, absence of clear association between zinc deficiency and worse prognosis. Results: The search found a total of 214 articles. A total of 44 publications were selected after appliance of ex-clusion criteria. Conclusion: Zinc deficiency is highly prevalent, and it not only showed influence on inflammatory and immunological processes, but also interfered with metabolism and other systems. Zinc supplementation was considered positive. In summary, lower zinc levels are related to end stage renal disease patients in hemodialysis and supplementation seems to be a promising approach in such cases.