ABSTRACT
Objective
To evaluate the serum zinc levels of patients with depression, with or without bipolar disorder, hospitalized in a psychiatric inpatient unit of a university hospital in southern Brazil.
Methods
Participated in the study 46 patients, aged 19 or over, both sexes, admitted to psychiatric inpatient unit of a university hospital in southern Brazil. The participants were divided in two groups: Group Depression (D group) and Group with Bipolar Disorder in depressive episode (THB Group). The analysis of serum zinc has been done through atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Were adopted as reference values for normality serum zinc levels over 59 µg/dL for women and over 61 µg/dL for men.
Results
The serum zinc levels were normal in 95.7% of the patients. The average of zinc in D Group were 88.5 µg/dL and 81.5 µg/dL in THB Group, however this difference was not statistically significant. The THB Group showed higher values of IMC, LDL cholesterol and previous psychiatric hospitalizations.
Conclusion
The results of this study show that serum zinc levels in patients using antidepressants and other psychiatric medications, hospitalized for bipolar disorder in depressive episode, compared with patients with depression did not differ and were within the normal range. The use of these medications may affect serum concentrations of this mineral.
Zinc; depression
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