Study design (if review, criteria of inclusion for studies)
Placebo-controlled double-blind cross-over study.
Participants
26 participants with CF (range 2 years 3 months - 19 years 1 month).
Interventions
Zinc supplementation.
Outcome measures
Lung function.
Main results
A small decrease in the number of leukocytes was also noted during zinc therapy. In response to zinc treatment, no changes in the clinical status of the patients were observed either by the investigators or by the patients. Growth velocity was the same during the placebo and zinc treatment periods. No significant changes in lung function occurred in response to either placebo or zinc. It appears that the observed low plasma zinc concentration in CF patients was due to an impaired zinc absorption from the gut which was counteracted by an increased supply of oral zinc. No beneficial effect from zinc supplementation on clinical status, growth velocity, or lung function was found in this study.