Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Association of Serum Zinc Levels in Overweight and Obesity

  • Published:
Biological Trace Element Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Low levels of zinc (Zn) have adverse effects on physiological and metabolic functions in humans, especially in processes linked with obesity. In this work, serum Zn levels and their associations with biochemical parameters (glucose, triglycerides, and total cholesterol), sex, and body mass index (BMI) were determined. The distribution of the study sample by sex was homogeneous: 52.6% were women and 47.4% were men. Women had higher BMI and Zn levels (normal weight and obesity) than men, but the differences in BMI and serum Zn levels by sex were not significant (p > 0.05). Nevertheless, the results obtained showed a decrease in serum Zn levels in overweight and obese individuals (p < 0.05) and a negative correlation between BMI and serum Zn levels (r = − 0.663 and p < 0.001); additionally, a significant correlation was identified between cholesterol and triglyceride values (r = 0.493 and p < 0.001). In conclusion, this study demonstrated decreased serum Zn levels in overweight and obese individuals.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. GBD (2015) Obesity collaborators (2017) health effects of overweight and obesity in 195 countries over 25 years. N Engl J Med 377:13–27

    Google Scholar 

  2. NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (2017) Worldwide trends in body-mass index, underweight, overweight, and obesity from 1975 to 2016: a pooled analysis of 2416 population-based measurement studies in 128·9 million children, adolescents, and adults. Lancet 390:2627–2642. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)32129-3

  3. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2017) Obesity update 2017. http://www.oecd.org/health/health-systems/Obesity-Update-2017.pdf. Accessed 28 November 2019

  4. Secretaría de Salud (2013) Estrategia Nacional para la Prevención y el Control del Sobrepeso, la Obesidad y la Diabetes. IEPSA-Entidad paraestatal del Gobierno Federal, Mexico https://www.gob.mx/cms/uploads/attachment/file/276108/estrategia_sobrepeso_diabetes_obesidad.pdf. Accessed 28 November 2019

    Google Scholar 

  5. Shamah-Levy TT, Cuevas-Nasu L, Gaona-Pineda EB, Gómez-Acosta LM, Morales-Ruán MDC, Hernandez-Avila M, Rivera-Dommarco JÁ (2018) Sobrepeso y obesidad en niños y adolescentes en México, actualización de la Encuesta Nacional de Salud y Nutrición de Medio Camino 2016. Salud Publ Mex 60(3):244–253. https://doi.org/10.21149/8815

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Bhupathiraju SN, Hu FB (2016) Epidemiology of obesity and diabetes and their cardiovascular complications. Circ Res 118(11):1723–1735

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Luo J, Hendryx M, Manson JE, Figueiredo JC, LeBlanc ES, Barrington W, Rohan TE, Howard BV, Reding K, Ho GY, Garcia DO, Chlebowski RT (2019) Intentional weight loss and obesity-related cancer risk. JNCI Cancer Spectrum 3(4):pkz054. https://doi.org/10.1093/jncics/pkz054

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Ryu S, Frith E, Pedisic Z, Kang M, Loprinzi PD (2019) Secular trends in the association between obesity and hypertension among adults in the United States, 1999–2014. Eur J Intern Med 62:37–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejim.2019.02.012

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Xanthopoulos M, Tapia IE (2017) Obesity and common respiratory diseases in children. Paediatr Respir Rev 3:68–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prrv.2016.10.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Salihu HM, Bonnema SM, Alio AP (2009) Obesity: what is an elderly population growing into? Maturitas 63(1):7–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.maturitas.2009.02.010

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Reilly JJ, Kelly J (2011) Long-term impact of overweight and obesity in childhood and adolescence on morbidity and premature mortality in adulthood: systematic review. Int J Obes 35:891–898

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Norouzi S, Adulcikas J, Sohal SS, Myers S (2017) Zinc transporters and insulin resistance: therapeutic implications for type 2 diabetes and metabolic disease. J Biomed Sci 24:87

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Zhao T, Huang O, Su Y, Sun W, Huang Q, Wei W (2019) Zinc and its regulators in pancreas. Inflammopharmacol 27(3):453–464. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10787-019-00573-w

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Fukunaka A, Fujitani Y (2018) Role of zinc homeostasis in the pathogenesis of diabetes and obesity. Int J Mol Sci 19:476

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Olechnowicz J, Tinkov A, Skalny A, Suliburska J (2018) Zinc status is associated with inflammation, oxidative stress, lipid, and glucose metabolism. J Physiol Sci 68(1):19–31

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Baltaci AK, Mogulkoc R, Baltaci SB (2019) The role of zinc in the endocrine system. Pak J Pharm Sci 32(1):231–239

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Prasad AS (2012) Discovery of human zinc deficiency: 50 years later. J Trace Elem Med Biol 26:66–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtemb.2012.04.004

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Sun L, Yu Y, Huang T, An P, Yu D, Yu Z, Li H, Sheng H, Cai L, Xue J, Jing M, Li Y, Lin X, Wang F (2012) Associations between Ionomic profile and metabolic abnormalities in human population. PLoS One 7(6):e38845. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0038845

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  19. MacDonald RS (2000) The role of zinc in growth and cell proliferation. J Nutr 130(5):1500S–1508S. https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/130.5.1500S

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Frassinett S, Bronzetti GL, Caltavuturo L, Cini M, Croce CD (2006) The role of zinc in life: a review. J Environ Pathol Toxicol Oncol 25(3):597–610

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Habicht JP (1974) Standardization of quantitative epidemiological methods in the field. Bol Oficina Sanit Panam 76(5):375–384

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Ruz M, Carrasco F, Rojas P, Basfi-fer K, Hernández MC, Pérez A (2019) Nutritional effects of zinc on metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes: mechanisms and main findings in human studies. Biol Trace Elem Res 188(1):177–188. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-018-1611-8

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Liu M, Zhu H, Zhai T, Pan H, Wang L, Yang H, Yan K, Zeng Y, Gong F (2019) Serum zinc-α2-glycoprotein levels were decreased in patients with premature coronary artery disease. Front Endocrinol 10:197. https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2019.00197

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Cruz KJC, Morais JSM, de Oliveira ARS, Severo JS, Marreiro DN (2017) The effect of zinc supplementation on insulin resistance in obese subjects: a systematic review. Biol Trace Elem Res 176(2):239–243

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Skrajnowska D, Bobrowska-Korczak B (2019) Role of zinc in immune system and anti-cancer defense mechanisms. Nutrients 11(10):2273. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11102273

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  26. Baltaci AK, Mogulkoc R (2012) Leptin and zinc relation: in regulation of food intake and immunity. Indian J Endocrinol Metab 16(S3):611–616

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Yang CJ, Han RY, Wang SS (2017) Correlation of serum zinc alpha 2 glycoprotein with blood lipid and reproductive hormone levels in men. Zhonghua Nan Ke Xue 23(11):997–1001

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Mracek T, Ding Q, Tzanavari T, Kos K, Pinkney J, Wilding J, Trayhurn P, Bing C (2010) The adipokine zinc-α2-glycoprotein (ZAG) is downregulated with fat mass expansion in obesity. Clin Endocrinol 72(3):334–341. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2265.2009.03658.x

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Samad N (2017) Serum levels of leptin, zinc and tryptophan with obesity: a case-control study. Pak J Pharm Sci 30(5):1691–1696

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Sun Y, Wang Y, Wang D, Zhou Q (In Press) Dietary zinc intake, supplemental zinc intake and serum zinc levels and the prevalence of kidney stones in adults. J Trace Elem Med Biol 57:126410. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtemb.2019.126410

  31. Abedini M, Ghaedi E, Hadi A, Mohammadi H, Amani R (2019) Zinc status and polycystic ovarian syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Trace Elem Med Biol 52:216–221. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtemb.2019.01.002

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Severo JS, Morais JBS, de Freitas TEC, Andrade ALP, Feitosa MM, Fontenelle LC, de Oliveira ARS, Cruz KJC, Marreiro DN (2019) The role of zinc in thyroid hormones metabolism. Int J Vitam Nutr Res 89:80–88. https://doi.org/10.1024/0300-9831/a000262

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Read SA, Obeid S, Ahlenstiel C, Ahlenstiel G (2019) The role of zinc in antiviral immunity. Adv Nutr 10(4):696–710. https://doi.org/10.1093/advances/nmz013

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  34. Buxaderas SC, Farré-Rovira R (1985) Whole blood and serum zinc levels in relation to sex and age. Rev Esp Fisiol 41(4):463–470

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Ghayour-Mobarhan M, Taylor MA, New SA, Lamb DJ, Ferns GAA (2005) Determinants of serum copper, zinc and selenium in healthy subjects. Ann Clin Biochem 42:364–375. https://doi.org/10.1258/0004563054889990

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Marreiro DDN, Fisberg M, Cozzolino SMF (2002) Zinc nutritional status in obese children and adolescents. Biol Trace Elem Res 86:107–122. https://doi.org/10.1385/BTER:86:2:107

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Di Martino G, Matera MG, de Martino B, Vacca C, Di Martino S, Rossi F (1993) Relationship between zinc and obesity. J Med 24:177–183

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Azab SFA, Saleh SH, Elsaeed WF, Elshafie MA, Sherief LM, Esh AMH (2014) Serum trace elements in obese Egyptian children: a case–control study. Ital J Pediatr 40:20. https://doi.org/10.1186/1824-7288-40-20

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  39. Błażewicz A, Klatka M, Astel A, Partyka M, Kocjan R (2013) Differences in trace metal concentrations (Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn, cd, and Ni) in whole blood, plasma, and urine of obese and nonobese children. Biol Trace Elem Res 155(2):190–200. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-013-9783-8

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  40. Yerlikaya FH, Toker A, Arıbaş A (2013) Serum trace elements in obese women with or without diabetes. Indian J Med Res 137(2):339–345

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  41. Selva DM, Lecube A, Hernández C, Baena JA, Fort JM, Simó R (2009) Lower zinc-2-glycoprotein production by adipose tissue and liver in obese patients unrelated to insulin resistance. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 94(11):4499–4507. https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2009-0758

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Fan Y, Zhang C, Bu J (2017) Relationship between selected serum metallic elements and obesity in children and adolescent in the U.S. Nutrients 9(2):104. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu9020104

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  43. Yang HK, Lee SH, Han K, Kang B, Lee SY, Yoon KH, Kwon HS, Park YM (2015) Lower serum zinc levels are associated with unhealthy metabolic status in normal-weight adults: the 2010 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Diabetes Metab 41(4):282–290. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.diabet.2015.03.005

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Czernichow S, Vergnaud AC, Galan P, Arnaud J, Favier A, Faure H, Huxley R, Hercberg S, Ahluwalia N (2009) Effects of long-term antioxidant supplementation and association of serum antioxidant concentrations with risk of metabolic syndrome in adults. AmJ Clin Nutr 90(2):329–335. https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.2009.27635

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. Ma J, Betts NM (2000) Zinc and copper intakes and their major food sources for older adults in the 1994-96 continuing survey of food intakes by individuals (CSFII). J Nutr 130(11):2838–2843. https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/130.11.2838

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  46. Seo J-A, Song S-W, Han K, Lee KH-N (2014) The associations between serum zinc levels and metabolic syndrome in the Korean population: findings from the 2010 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. PLoS One 9(8):e105990. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0105990

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  47. Ramesh R, Senthil KS, Ganesh V, Chenthil KS (2017) Study of serum zinc status among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. Int J Adv Med 4(5):1344–1347. https://doi.org/10.18203/2349-3933.ijam20174176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. García OP, Ronquillo D, Caamaño MC, Martínez G, López V, Rosado JL (2013) Zinc, iron and vitamins A, C and E are associated with obesity, inflammation, lipid profile and insulin resistance in Mexican school-aged children. Nutrients 5(12):5012–5030. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu5125012

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  49. García OP, Ronquillo D, Caamaño MC, Camacho M, Long KZ, Rosado JL (2012) Zinc, vitamin A, and vitamin C status are associated with leptin concentrations and obesity in Mexican women: results from a cross-sectional study. Nutr Metab 9:59. https://doi.org/10.1186/1743-7075-9-59

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  50. Delgadillo-Guzmán D, Quintanar-Escorza MA, Carrera-Gracia MA, Lares-Aseff I (2015) Relation of leptin in plasma with oxidative damage in indigenous tepehuán and mestizo populations from Durango. Gac Med Mex 151:202–209

    Google Scholar 

  51. Hunt IF, Murphy NJ, Pm M-H, Faraji B, Swendseid ME, Reynolds RD (1897) Zinc, vitamin B6, and other nutrients in pregnant women attending prenatal clinics in Mexico. Am J Clin Nutr 46(4):563–569. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/46.4.563

    Article  Google Scholar 

  52. Rosado JL, López P, Muñoz E, Martinez H, Allen LH (1997) Zinc supplementation reduced morbidity, but neither zinc nor iron supplementation affected growth or body composition of Mexican preschoolers. Am J Clin Nutr 65(1):13–19. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/65.1.13

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  53. Garcia OP, Torres K, Zavala G, Camacho M, Ronquillo D, Rosado JL (2017) Vitamin C and zinc concentrations are associated with lower risk of inflammation in a school-aged population of children in rural Mexico. FASEB J 31(1):964.21 https://www.fasebj.org/doi/abs/10.1096/fasebj.31.1_supplement.964.21. Accessed 28 November 2019

    Google Scholar 

  54. Gómez-Cardona EE, Hernández-Domínguez EE, Velarde-Salcedo AJ, Barrera-Pacheco A, Diaz-Gois A, De León-Rodríguez A, de la Rosa AP B (2017) 2D-DIGE as a strategy to identify serum biomarkers in Mexican patients with Type-2 diabetes with different body mass index. Sci Rep 7:46536. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep46536

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  55. de Salud S (2019) Encuesta Nacional de Salud y Nutrición de Medio Camino 2016. Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública:1–149 https://www.gob.mx/cms/uploads/attachment/file/209093/ENSANUT.pdf. Accessed 28 November 2019

Download references

Acknowledgments

Thank you for the funding granted within the Laboratorio Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología y Gestión Integrada del Agua project from the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (299030).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unidad de Posgrado, Facultad de Enfermería y Nutrición, UASLP, Avda. Niño Artillero 130, CP 78210, San Luis Potosí, S.L.P., Mexico

    María Judith Rios-Lugo, Casandra Madrigal-Arellano & Darío Gaytán-Hernández

  2. Sección de Medicina Molecular y Traslacional, Centro de Investigación en Ciencias de Salud y Biomedicina. UASLP, Avda Sierra Leona 550, CP 78210, San Luis, S.L.P., Mexico

    María Judith Rios-Lugo

  3. Instituto de Investigación de Zonas Desérticas, UASLP, Altair 200, CP 78377, San Luis, S.L.P., Mexico

    Héctor Hernández-Mendoza

  4. Universidad del Centro de México, Capitán Caldera 75, CP 78250, San Luis, S.L.P., Mexico

    Héctor Hernández-Mendoza

  5. Laboratorio Nacional de Investigaciones en Forense Nuclear (LANAFONU), Gerencia de Tecnología Nuclear, Dirección de Investigación Tecnológica, Carretera México s/n, CP 52750, Toluca, La Marquesa Ocoyoacác, Mexico

    Elizabeth Teresita Romero-Guzmán

Authors
  1. María Judith Rios-Lugo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Casandra Madrigal-Arellano
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Darío Gaytán-Hernández
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Héctor Hernández-Mendoza
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Elizabeth Teresita Romero-Guzmán
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Héctor Hernández-Mendoza.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Rios-Lugo, M.J., Madrigal-Arellano, C., Gaytán-Hernández, D. et al. Association of Serum Zinc Levels in Overweight and Obesity. Biol Trace Elem Res 198, 51–57 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-020-02060-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-020-02060-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation