Zinc Status Biomarkers and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Metabolic Syndrome: A Case Control Study

Metabolic syndrome (MS) involves pathophysiological alterations that might compromise zinc status. The aim of this study was to evaluate zinc status biomarkers and their associations with cardiometabolic factors in patients with MS. Our case control study included 88 patients with MS and 37 controls. We performed clinical and anthropometric assessments and obtained lipid, glycemic, and inflammatory profiles. We also evaluated zinc intake, plasma zinc, erythrocyte zinc, and 24-h urinary zinc excretion. The average zinc intake was significantly lower in the MS group (p < 0.001). Regression models indicated no significant differences in plasma zinc concentration (all p > 0.05) between the two groups. We found significantly higher erythrocyte zinc concentration in the MS group (p < 0.001) independent from co-variable adjustments. Twenty-four hour urinary zinc excretion was significantly higher in the MS group (p = 0.008), and adjustments for age and sex explained 21% of the difference (R² = 0.21, p < 0.001). There were significant associations between zincuria and fasting blood glucose concentration (r = 0.479), waist circumference (r = 0.253), triglyceride concentration (r = 0.360), glycated hemoglobin concentration (r = 0.250), homeostatic model assessment-insulin resistance (r = 0.223), and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein concentration (r = 0.427) (all p < 0.05) in the MS group. Patients with MS had alterations in zinc metabolism mainly characterized by an increase in erythrocyte zinc and higher zincuria.