Serum Zinc Status and Its Association with Allergic Sensitization: The Fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Abstract

Zinc (Zn) is an essential trace element that plays important roles in the immune system. There is little known about the role of trace elements in allergic diseases, and previous reports have shown conflicting results. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between serum Zn levels and total or allergen-specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels. The initial candidates for this study were those who participated in the 5^th Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2010 (n = 8,958), and 1,867 adults who had serum total and allergen specific-IgE levels measured were included. Upon adjusting for covariates, mean total IgE, Dermatophagoides farinae and dog-specific IgE levels increased significantly as the Zn levels decrease from the highest to the lowest quartile (p = 0.009, 0.004, and < 0.001, respectively). The multiple logistic regression analyses showed significant negative linear correlations between serum Zn levels and total, D. farinae-, cockroach-, and dog-specific IgE levels (p-value for linear trend = 0.004, 0.006, 0.027, and < 0.001, respectively). This study demonstrated that total/allergen specific IgE and Zn levels are significantly inversely related.

Figure 1

Flowchart of the study.

Figure 2

Effects of serum Zn levels on the odds ratios for allergic sensitization. CI, confidence interval; IgE, immunoglobulin E; Q1, 1^st quartile; Q2, 2^nd quartile; Q3, 3^rd quartile; Q4, 4^th; Q, quartile. ^*p-value for linear trend.