Association of serum zinc levels with liver function and survival in patients awaiting liver transplantation

Purpose: Zinc is an important trace element with catalytic and defensive functions. We assessed the impact of zinc deficiency in patients with end-stage liver disease awaiting liver transplantation. Methods: Serum zinc levels were measured at the time of evaluation for liver transplantation (n = 368). Patients were dichotomized in two groups based on low and normal zinc serum levels. Results: Serum zinc levels are tightly associated with liver function as patients with low zinc levels (n = 226) had a higher MELD score (17.2 ± 7.9) than patients with normal zinc (n = 142) levels (11.5 ± 6.2; p < 0.00). Multivaria…