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ORLANDO -- Children and adolescents with ulcerative colitis may see an increase in depression as zinc levels decline, but it's too early to say whether treatments to raise zinc levels would make a difference, researchers reported here.
Results from a retrospective study of 110 children with inflammatory bowel disease suggested a moderate Spearman correlation (r=-0.57) linking low zinc levels with higher depression scores in ulcerative colitis patients, said lead author , division of pediatric gastroenterology at Penn State Health in Hershey, Pa., at the 2016 .
Action Points
- Note that this study was published as an abstract and presented at a conference. These data and conclusions should be considered to be preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
However, there was not a significant correlation between depression and low zinc levels in patients with Crohn's disease (r=-0.10), she reported.
"We split the results by Crohn's and ulcerative colitis as we understand this is not the same condition," commented Falaiye.
"It was just ulcerative colitis that was positively correlated, Crohn's was not, but I think it's because we did not get [Crohn's] zinc deficient patients which I think was a factor of the retrospective nature of the study."
Falaiye and colleagues collected data via a retrospective chart review of patients, ages 1-20 years, from the from April 1, 2014, to March 19, 2016.
As part of their routine visit, all patients were tested for zinc levels, as well as anxiety and depression using the and the , respectively.
Overall, the team reviewed data for 110 pediatric patients: 18 with ulcerative colitis, 88 with Crohn's disease, and four with indeterminate colitis. Disease duration of all patients ranged from 0-12.4 years with a median of 1.67 (IQR 0.17-3.67).
Zinc levels ranged from 43 to 141 mcg/dL with median of 68.5 (IQR 60-76), the researchers reported. These values were close to the range of 46 to 130 mcg/dL that they said was normal in their lab.
There was no significant correlation between zinc levels and anxiety in ulcerative colitis (r=-0.12) or Crohn's patients (r=0.03).
She also noted several limitations, including the small sample size, as well as the retrospective nature of the data which may have resulted in missing data points and inadequate information regarding history of psychiatric disorders.
Looking forward, the researchers suggested a prospective multicenter trial in order to increase the sample size and validate findings.
Falaiye noted that what she saw clinically did not match what she found retrospectively, and further research might help to determine if there is a causal relationship that would justify treatments to increase zinc levels in deficient patients.
The researchers also called for functional MRI in order to study depression in zinc-deficient patients as compared with those with zinc deficiency but no depression and those with depression but without zinc deficiency.
Primary Source
Advances in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases 2016
Falaiye T, et al "Could zinc level be a factor in anxiety and depression for pediatric inflammatory bowel disease patients?" AIBD 2016.