Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 16, 2026
Comet Assay as an Indirect Measure of Systemic Oxidative Stress
Published on: May 22, 2015
Correlation of zinc with oxidative stress biomarkers
María Morales-Suárez-Varela1,2,3, Agustín Llopis-González4,5,6, Verónica González-Albert7
1Unit of Public Health, Hygiene and Environmental Health, Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Food Science, Toxicology and Legal Medicine, University of Valencia, 46100 Valencia, Spain. maria.m.morales@uv.es.
Abstract:
Hypertension and smoking are related with oxidative stress (OS), which in turn reports on cellular aging. Zinc is an essential element involved in an individual's physiology. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relation of zinc levels in serum and urine with OS and cellular aging and its effect on the development of hypertension. In a Spanish sample with 1500 individuals, subjects aged 20-59 years were selected, whose zinc intake levels fell within the recommended limits. These individuals were classified according to their smoking habits and hypertensive condition. A positive correlation was found (Pearson's C=0.639; p=0.01) between Zn serum/urine quotient and oxidized glutathione levels (GSSG). Finally, risk of hypertension significantly increased when the GSSG levels exceeded the 75 percentile; OR=2.80 (95%CI=1.09-7.18) and AOR=3.06 (95%CI=0.96-9.71). Low zinc levels in serum were related with OS and cellular aging and were, in turn, to be a risk factor for hypertension.
