Clinical Significance of Evaluation of Serum Zinc Concentrations in C-Viral Chronic Liver Disease

We evaluated zinc concentrations in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV)-positive chronic liver disease and correlated them with the clinical profiles of the patients. A total of 100 patients with chronic hepatitis (CH), 29 with liver cirrhosis (LC), and 6 who were asymptomatic HCV carriers (ASC) were examined. All of the patients were positive for serum HCV RNA. One hundred eighteen HCV antibody-positive hepatocellear carcinoma (HCC) patients and 11 healthy subjects also were included in this study. Serum zinc concentrations were evaluated using conventional atomic absorption spectrometry. The median concentration of zinc in patients with CH was statistically lower than that in healthy control subjects. The median zinc concentrations of the LC and HCC groups were significantly lower than that of the CH group. A significant correlation was observed between the zinc concentrations and the platelet counts and albumin concentrations. The zinc concentrations did not correlate with tumor size and number and decreased with the development of Child-Pugh stage. The cumulative survival rate after therapy for HCC nodules in the low zinc concentration group was significantly lower than in the high group. We conclude that the serum concentration of zinc influences the clinical profiles in patients with C-viral chronic liver disease.