An Evaluation of Zinc Status in Patients with Anorexia Nervosa

April 1978 in “ Pediatric research ”

Barbara S. Kirschner, Regina C. Casper, Robert A. Jacob, Harold H. Sandstead, John M. Davis, Samuel Spector

zinc deficiency alopecia anorexia nervosa plasma zinc levels hair zinc levels amenorrhea

TLDR Patients with anorexia nervosa did not show a correlation between zinc levels and taste perception or the severity of their condition.

In a study from 1978, zinc status was evaluated in 27 hospitalized patients with anorexia nervosa (AN), who had lost more than 25% of their body weight without other medical causes. The patients, aged 12 to 32, included 26 females and 1 male. Despite characteristics of zinc deficiency such as alopecia and delayed sexual maturation being common in AN, standardized taste discrimination tests showed no taste perversions, although 6 of 13 patients had reduced taste acuity. The study found no correlation between plasma and hair zinc levels and taste perception, serum carotene, vitamin A, or retinol-binding protein levels. Additionally, zinc levels did not correlate with the amount of weight loss or the duration of symptoms, including amenorrhea.

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