Effects of zamic as a means for zinc supplementation in growing children

We investigated the effects of zinc supplementation in case of moderate growth retardation in which GH treatment could not be used. Zamic (ZA, an association containing arginine, L-methionine, and zinc; from Aguettant pharmaceuticals) was compared with arginine aspartate (AA) (5 g) in a crossover randomized trial (6 mo of each treatment at random order over 1 yr). We present preliminary results of 24 children who completed the study (3 girls, 21 boys, age 9-13 yr). Subjects had to be prepubertal, with no GH deficiency diagnosed. In 15 subjects growth velocity was lower than 5 mm/mo: In this case ZA improved growth velocity (rising from 3.105 +/- 0.229 to 5.4 +/- 0.69 mm/mo p < 0.01), whereas the effect of AA was not significant. The increase in growth velocity was higher with ZA (+2.44 +/- 0.657 mm/mo) than AA (+0.438 +/- 0.450 mm/mo) p < 0.05. These results suggest that ZA is more efficient than AA, consistent with the hypothesis that zinc needs are increased in those children in this period of life.