Assessment of Serum Zinc and Selenium Levels in Children with COVID-19

Abstract

Objective Zinc and selenium levels are being investigated with increasing frequency in adult patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, levels of zinc and selenium in children with COVID-19 have not been adequately studied to date. Methods This prospective, observational study was conducted on 146 pediatric patients diagnosed with COVID-19 and 49 healthy controls between 2020 and 2021. Normal serum zinc reference values were 0.60 to 1.20 mu g/ml for children 0 to 10 years old and 0.66 to 1.10 mu g/mL for children >= 11 years old. The normal range for serum selenium concentration was considered between 70 and 150 mu g/L. Deficiencies were defined for values below the reference range. Results Zinc and selenium levels were significantly lower in the COVID-19 (+/-) group compared with the controls (zinc: 0.7 +/- 0.2 vs 0.9 = 0.2 mu g/mL, p < 0.001; selenium: 57.1 +/- 9.1 vs 66.5 +/- 11.4 mu g/L, p < 0.01, respectively). Also, zinc and selenium levels were found to be statistically significantly lower in the hospitalized group compared with the outpatient group (zinc: 0.6 +/- 0.2 vs 0.8 +/- 0.2 mu g/mL, p < 0.001; selenium: 52.1 +/- 9.6 vs 58.8 +/- 8.3 mu g/L, p < 0.001). In the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, selenium levels with a cutoff value of 55.50 mu g/L, with 75% sensitivity and 70% specificity, and zinc levels with a cutoff value of 0.7 mu g/mL, with 56% sensitivity and 53% specificity, predicted hospitalization. Conclusion Our data showed that serum zinc and selenium levels were significantly lower in patients with COVID-19 compared with healthy control group. Also, zinc and selenium levels were found to be lower in the hospitalized group compared with the outpatient COVID-19 group.