American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 47, 970-975, Copyright © 1988 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc

ORIGINAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS

Zinc supplements and serum lipids in young adult white males

MR Black, DM Medeiros, E Brunett and R Welke
Department of Home Economics, University of Wyoming, Laramie 82071.

A 12-wk double-blind study was conducted to determine the effect of oral zinc supplementation upon serum total cholesterol, lipoprotein- cholesterol fractions, and serum triglycerides in white males. The subjects were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups and consumed either a placebo tablet (n = 9), 50 mg Zn/d (n = 13), or 75 mg Zn/d (n = 9) as Zn gluconate. Serum total cholesterol, low-density- lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, very-low-density-lipoprotein (VLDL) cholesterol, and triglycerides were not affected by Zn supplements. However, serum high-density-lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol levels in subjects assigned to the 75 mg Zn/d group were significantly lower at weeks 6 and 12 than those for the placebo group and lower at weeks 6, 8, and 12 than at baseline; subjects assigned to the 50 mg Zn/d group had lower serum HDL-cholesterol levels at week 12 than did the placebo group and lower at week 12 than at base line.