The effect of zinc sulfate on immunologic response to recombinant hepatitis B vaccine in elderly

authors:

avatar Mandana Afsharian 1 , avatar Siavash Vaziri 1 , avatar Ali Reza Janbakhsh 1 , avatar Babak Sayad 1 , avatar Feizollah Mansouri ORCID 2 , * , avatar Javad Nourbakhsh 1 , avatar Keyghobad Qadiri 1 , avatar Farid Najafi 1 , avatar Maria Shirvanii 1

Kermanshah Liver Disease and Hepatitis Research Center, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, IR Iran
Kermanshah Liver Disease and Hepatitis Research Center, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, fmansoury@yahoo.com, IR Iran
Hepatitis Monthly: Vol.11, issue 1; 32-35
article type: Research Article
received: July 27, 2010
accepted: September 7, 2010

How To Cite Afsharian M, Vaziri S, Janbakhsh A, Sayad B, Mansouri F, et al. The effect of zinc sulfate on immunologic response to recombinant hepatitis B vaccine in elderly. Hepat Mon. 2011;11(1): 32-35. 

Abstract

Background: Hepatitis B is the major cause of chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis in Iran. Sanitation and immunization is one of the most effective measures for prevention of the disease which is now widely used in developing countries. However, the immune response to the vaccine varies by age.
Objectives: To determine the effect of zinc sulfate on immune response to hepatitis-B vaccine in elderly.
Patients and Methods: In a clinical trial on 140 subjects aged ≥40 years with a body mass index (BMI) <30 kg/m2, and without any co-morbid disease were recruited. Those who had negative hepatitis B core antibody (102 persons) were randomly allocated to two groups. The trial group received hepatitis B vaccine plus 200 mg zinc sulfate daily for 30 days and the control group received vaccine plus placebo.
Results: 52 of 102 people were female (51%). The two studied groups were comparable in terms of age, gender, and smoking habits. The mean antibody production in the intervention and control groups was 116.93 and 157.37 mIU/mL, respectively (p=0.22). No statistical differences were observed between the two groups in terms of proportion of people who were protected after vaccination (26.0% and 36.5% in people with and without zinc, respectively).
Conclusions: This study revealed that zinc sulfate has no effect in level of immunity among elderly.

  • Implication for Health policy/practice/research/medical education:
    This article shows the effect of adding trace elements in response to routine vaccination program against hepatitis B virus. Reading this article is recommended especially for the personnel involved as primary health car workers.
  • Please cite this paper as:
    Afsharian M, Vaziri S, Janbakhsh AR, Sayad B, Mansouri F, Nourbakhsh J, et al. The effect of zinc sulfate on immunologic response to recombinant hepatitis B vaccine in elderly. Hepat Mon. 2011;11(1):32-35.

2011 Kowsar M.P.Co. All rights reserved.

Full Text

Full text is available in PDF