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Low Concentrations of Selenium and Zinc in Nails are Associated with Childhood Asthma

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate possible associations between Zn, Se, Cu, Mn, and Co concentrations in nails and asthma in a young population from a Southern Brazil city. Additionally, correlations between these chemical elements among asthmatic and non-asthmatic children were evaluated. Before nail collection (n = 165), children were asked to complete the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood questionnaire. The concentrations of trace elements were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The chi-square test was used to evaluate the association between element concentrations in nails and the respiratory outcome. To evaluate correlations between the elements, we used the Spearman correlation test. For all tests, the significance level was set at 95% (P ≤ 0.05). Children included in the highest quartile of nail Se and Zn concentration presented a fivefold decrease in the prevalence ratio of asthma while children in the lowest Se range presented an almost 2.5-fold increase in the asthma prevalence ratio. There were weak to strong correlations between Cu vs. Zn, Cu vs. Co, Cu vs. Se, Zn vs. Se, Zn vs. Mn, and Mn vs. Co in both asthmatic and non-asthmatic children. Interestingly, non-asthmatics also presented correlations between Co vs. Se and Zn. Taken together, our results clearly demonstrated an association between concentrations of selenium and zinc and childhood asthma and the usefulness of nail as a noninvasive matrix to detect minerals imbalance in asthma patients.

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Acknowledgments

The study was supported by grants from the Secretaria de Saúde do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul (Convênio 020/05), the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico-CNPq (MCT/CNPq 06/2008), and the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP). We also thank Alan Silveira Fleck, Gabriela Ramos Chagas, and Maurício Bianchini Moresco for the technical support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratório de Toxicologia e Essencialidade de Metais, Departamento de Análises Clínicas, Toxicológicas e Bromatológicas, Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Avenida do Café s/n, Monte Alegre, 14040-903, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil

    Maria Fernanda Hornos Carneiro & Fernando Barbosa Jr

  2. Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre, Avenida Sarmento Leite, 245, Centro, 90050-170, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

    Claudia Ramos Rhoden & Sérgio Luis Amantéa

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  1. Maria Fernanda Hornos Carneiro
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  2. Claudia Ramos Rhoden
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  3. Sérgio Luis Amantéa
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  4. Fernando Barbosa Jr
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Correspondence to Fernando Barbosa Jr.

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Carneiro, M.F.H., Rhoden, C.R., Amantéa, S.L. et al. Low Concentrations of Selenium and Zinc in Nails are Associated with Childhood Asthma. Biol Trace Elem Res 144, 244–252 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-011-9080-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-011-9080-3

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