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. 2023 Jan 6;18(1):e0268875.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0268875. eCollection 2023.

Association between zinc deficiency and aorta stiffness in non-diabetic hemodialysis patients

Kunihiro Ishioka  1 , Sumi Hidaka  1 , Naoki Fujiwara  1 , Mizuki Yamano  1 , Yasuhiro Mochida  1 , Machiko Oka  1 , Kyoko Maesato  1 , Hidekazu Moriya  1 , Takayasu Ohtake  1 , Shuzo Kobayashi  1
Affiliations

Association between zinc deficiency and aorta stiffness in non-diabetic hemodialysis patients

Kunihiro Ishioka et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Objectives: Zinc deficiency (Zn < 60 μg/dL) is known to play an important role for vascular calcification. However, little data is available regarding the association between zinc deficiency and aorta stiffness in dialysis patients. Thus, we studied the relationship between zinc deficiency and aorta stiffness in non-diabetic hemodialysis (HD) patients.

Methods: Of 150 patients receiving maintenance HD at our hospital, we included 79 non-diabetic HD patients (age: 70±11 years, 49 men) after excluding 71 diabetic HD patients. Zinc deficiency was defined as Zn <60 μg/dL during pre-HD blood sampling. The association between zinc deficiency and aorta stiffness was analyzed. Aorta stiffness was evaluated as brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV). Other surrogate markers for cardiovascular complications were also measured.

Results: The zinc deficiency group (ZD group) included 45 patients (57.0%). Compared to the zinc non-deficiency group (ZND group), patients with ZD group were significantly older, higher levels of CRP and hypoalbuminemia. Moreover, they had significantly higher levels of baPWV, and lower levels of ankle-brachial pressure index (ABI) (p<0.05). After adjusting for hypoalbuminemia, and CRP, multivariate analysis showed that age and zinc level were independent predictors of baPWV.

Conclusion: The study suggested that zinc deficiency may be an independent risk factor for aorta stiffness, even after adjusting for malnutrition and inflammation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Classification between the zinc deficiency group and zinc non-deficiency groups.
HD, hemodialysis; DM, diabetes mellitus.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Distribution of serum zinc level.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Relationship between serum zinc concentration and baPWV.
Serum zinc concentration and baPWV significantly and negatively correlated (r = 0.298, p = 0.047). baPWV, brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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