Correlation between Serum Zinc Level and Erythrocyte Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) Activity in Non-frail and Frail Geriatric Patients

Abstract

Introduction: Frailty syndrome (FS), as a health problem in elderly, can interfere with the quality of life. Many factors play roles in its occurrence, one of which is oxidative stress. Superoxide dismutase (SOD), in which one of its components is zinc (Zn), is one of the endogenous antioxidants that plays a role in preventing oxidative stress. This study was aimed to know the correlation between serum zinc level (sZn) and erythrocyte SOD (eSOD) activity in non-frail and frail geriatric patients. Methods: This was cross-sectional study with consecutive sampling method conducted in the Geriatric Clinic Cipto Mangunkusumo hospital, from August through September 2014, on 60 patients (30 patients for each group of non-frail and frail). Data were collected from interviews, physical measurements, and venous blood sampling. Results: Among 90% of the subjects had low Zn intake, at the same time, the mean of sZn was 8.41 ± 1.36mol/l and 93.3% of the subjects had experienced Zn deficiency. The mean of eSOD activity was 1526 ± 508U/gHb, and there was no significant difference between the groups. There were no significant correlation between sZn and eSOD activity both in the overall subject (r = -0.04; p = 0.076), as well as the non-frail group (r = -0.099; p=0.604) and frail group (r = 0.01; p = 0.957). Conclusion: Serum zinc level did not have any significant correlation with the eSOD activity, neither on overall or both non-frail and frail groups.

Keywords

• geriatric patient, serum zinc level, erythrocyte SOD activity, frailty syndrome