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Hindi Research Article
The Effect of Zinc and Lysine Supplementation on Infection Rate and CD4 Count In Elderly
| Maria Widijanti Sugeng1*, Merryana Adriani2 and Bambang Wirjatmadi2 | |
| 1Master Program of Public Health Faculty, Airlangga University, Surabaya, Indonesia | |
| 2Public Health Faculty, Airlangga University, Surabaya, Indonesia | |
| Corresponding Author : | Maria Widijanti Sugeng Master Program of Public Health Faculty Airlangga University, Surabaya, Indonesia Tel: 0818585434 E-mail: m_sugeng@yahoo.com |
| Received: May 27, 2013; Accepted: June 09, 2015; Published: June 16, 2015 | |
| Citation: Sugeng MW, Adriani M, Wirjatmadi B (2015) The Effect of Zinc and Lysine Supplementation on Infection Rate and CD4 Count In Elderly. Biochem Physiol S5:002. doi:10.4172/2168-9652.S5-002 | |
| Copyright: © 2015 Sugeng MW, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. | |
Abstract
Elderly people tend to have higher susceptibility of infections because immune dysfunction, especially cell-mediated immune system which is related to zinc deficiency. Lysine can support zinc role to boost up the cell-mediated immune system which can be determined by CD4 count. The objective of this study is to determine the effect of zinc and lysine supplementation on infection rate and CD4 count in elderly.
A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was conducted in a senior center in Surabaya using 24 healthy elderly subjects of both sexes aged 62 to 90 years. They were divided into two experimental groups and one control group. They were given zinc 20 mg per day; or zinc 20 mg and lysine 500 mg per day; or placebo for 2 months. Infection rate during supplementation period was documented. Albumin level, serum zinc level and CD4 count were measured before and after supplementation. The data was analyzed using one way Anova and paired T-test with p < 0.05.
Compared to control group, infection rate was lower in zinc group and zinc + lysine group (p < 0.065). Zinc + lysine supplementation increased serum zinc level significantly (p < 0,012) and had better effect compared to zinc supplementation alone. Zinc + lysine supplementation also increased CD4 count (p < 0,784) and had better effect compared to zinc supplementation alone. Zinc + lysine supplementation did not increase albumin level which was already in the normal level. Zinc + lysine supplementation can reduce infection rate in elderly by increasing zinc level and CD4 count.
