Estimation Of Serum Zinc Status in Patients with Depression in Relation to Its Severity in Iraqi Population: Case-Control Study

Background and objectives: Zinc is an important micronutrient. It regulates immunological, endocrine, and neurological processes that are linked to the pathophysiology of depression.Aim: The aim of this research was to analyze the serum zinc levels among depressed patients.Methods: A case-control study, with age and gender-matched participants, was conducted to assess blood zinc levels in a group of depressed patients at Azadi Teaching Hospital, Duhok, Kurdistan Region, Iraq, using the colorimetric technique with a spectrophotometer. The study included 200 participants, 100 randomly selected depressed patients using Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and 100 participants were apparently healthy as a control group. Independent t-test and Pearson chi-square were performed for the statistical analysis.Results: Mean of serum zinc level was considerably lower (67.1 ± 15.0 μg/dl, p value < 0.0001) in patients with depression compared to the apparently healthy individuals. Prevalence of hypozincemia was noticeably greater in depressed patients (55 %) in comparison with the apparently healthy control (18 %) with (p value < 0.0001). Significant difference of mean serum zinc level as well as the prevalence of hypozincemia was found between depressed patients according to severity, as severe depression had mean serum zinc of (49.44 ± 9.79 μg/dl) and all the severe depressed patients had zinc deficiency (16.4 %).Conclusions: This study shows a low mean level of serum zinc among patient with depression with a high prevalence of hypozincemia among the same group.