serum zinc values in adult patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation

introduction: zinc (zn) deficiency can cause significant defects in cellular immunity. hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (hsct) patients usually experience serious deficiencies of all components of the immune system. therefore, the maintenance of a normal zn status may be important in this group of patients. patients and methods: serum zn levels were analyzed in 55 patients during the hsct period. as zn-related factors, serum copper (cu) levels and alkaline phosphatase (alp) activity were also measured. results: there was decrease in zn values immediate post-transplant period (at day +10) when compared to pre-hsct levels (p=0.06). in patients who developed hypozincemia, adverse events appeared to occur more frequently. conclusion: this study suggests that maintaining a normal zn status can be important in hsct patients and zn deficiency may be a risk factor causing adverse effects.