Ibrahim, Hind Mutar and Al-Hadeethi, Emad M. Thaker (2025) Association of Serum Zinc, Selenium, and Oxidative Stress Markers with Disease Severity in Children with Recurrent Respiratory Infections. Central Asian Journal of Medical and Natural Science, 6 (1). ISSN 2660-4159

Text CAJMNS_Association+of+Serum+Zinc.pdf Download (856kB)

Abstract

Recurrent respiratory infections (RRI) are frequent in childhood and can be affected by nutritional and oxidative factors. Oxidative stress can lead to tissue damage and disease progression, Zinc and Selenium are essential trace elements, involved in Immune regulation and Antioxidant defense. But, the association of these factors with RRI severity in children is still poorly understood. Objectives are to examine the relationship of serum zinc, selenium and some oxidative stress and antioxidant markers in relation to the severity of the disease in children with recurrent respiratory infections. And see whether there is a relationship between the serum levels of zinc and selenium and some oxidative stress and antioxidant markers and the severity of the disease in children with recurrent respiratory infections. The hospital-based Cross Section Analytical Study was carried out at Tikrit Teaching Hospital and Salah Al-Din General Hospital, Iraq, from March 2023 to September 2024. Children in the study were 150 children with RRI and 50 apparently healthy children aged 6 months-12 years. The RRI group was divided into mild, moderate and severe disease groups. Complete blood count parameters were measured, along with serum zinc, selenium, malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and C-reactive protein (CRP). The statistical analysis was done via SPSS version 26.0. The zinc and selenium levels in the blood were found to be significantly lower in the mild, moderate and severe RRI than in the controls (P<0.001). Conversely, the values of MDA were raised with an increase in disease severity (P<0.001), and those of SOD, GPx, and TAC were lowered (P<0.001). RRI was also significantly correlated with increased CRP levels, increased WBC counts, increased neutrophil count, higher infection rate, hospitalization, respiratory distress and lower oxygen saturation levels in severe RRI patients. The correlation between zinc, selenium and CRP and MDA was negative and the correlation with SOD, GPx and TAC was positive. Multivariate analysis revealed that the zinc, selenium, MDA, SOD, GPx and TAC were independent variables of severe RRI. The results of ROC analysis indicated the good discriminatory performance especially in MDA (AUC=0.91) and zinc (AUC=0.86). In conclusion, a lower level of zinc and selenium in children and increased oxidative stress are significantly associated with higher severity of recurrent respiratory infections in children. The results indicate that micronutrient imbalance and antioxidant defense impairment play a role in clinical burden of RRI. Additional prospective studies are merited to further elucidate the causality and to establish if correction of known micronutrient deficiencies has a beneficial effect on clinical outcomes.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Recurrent respiratory infections, Zinc, Selenium, Oxidative stress, Children
Subjects:	H Social Sciences
Depositing User:	admin eprints
Date Deposited:	04 Nov 2026 08:47
Last Modified:	04 Nov 2026 08:47
URI:	http://eprints.umsida.ac.id/id/eprint/17447

Actions (login required)

View Item