treatment for people with HIV/AIDS

Zinc deficiency has been linked to impaired immune function and supplementation has been suggested as a treatment for people with HIV/AIDS, but studies to date have produced conflicting results. While some suggest that zinc enhances the body's ability to fight HIV and improves disease symptoms, others have found it has a detrimental effect. In one study of injection drug users, lower zinc levels were associated with reduced CD4 cell counts, but this does not necessarily mean one caused the other. In an early nutritional survey of nearly 300 HIV positive men followed for seven years, high doses of zinc were associated with faster HIV disease progression. Some researchers have hypothesized that this may be related to the fact that HIV requires zinc-containing structures called "zinc fingers" to produce functional viral progeny.

More recently, Raziya Bobat, MD, and colleagues reported in the November 26, 2005 issue of The Lancet that in a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of 96 HIV positive South African children aged six months to five years, zinc supplementation for six months reduced the incidence of diarrhea and pneumonia, and did not appear to promote viral replication. Given the degree of uncertainty, most experts do not recommend zinc supplementation beyond the amount contained in a multivitamin and mineral pill.