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Abstract
During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and continuing emergence of viral mutants, there has been a lack of effective treatment methods. Zinc maintains immune function, with direct and indirect antiviral activities. Zinc nutritional status is a critical factor in antiviral immune responses. Importantly, COVID-19 and zinc deficiency overlap in high-risk population. Hence, the potential effect of zinc as a preventive and adjunct therapy for COVID-19 is intriguing. Here, this review summarizes the immune and antiviral function of zinc, the relationship between zinc levels, susceptibility, and severity of COVID-19, and the effect of zinc supplementation on COVID-19. Existing studies have confirmed that zinc deficiency was associated with COVID-19 susceptibility and severity. Zinc supplementation plays a potentially protective role in enhancing immunity, decreasing susceptibility, shortening illness duration, and reducing the severity of COVID-19. We recommend that zinc levels should be monitored, particularly in COVID-19 patients, and zinc as a preventive and adjunct therapy for COVID-19 should be considered for groups at risk of zinc deficiency to reduce susceptibility and disease severity.
Acknowledgements
We thank Gillian Campbell, PhD, from LiwenBianji (Edanz) (www.liwenbianji.cn/), for editing the English text of a draft of this manuscript.
Disclosure statement
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Author contributions
FW, MQW, and CHS: designed research and revised the paper; FW and MQW: wrote the paper; JYZ, RZ, YZS, YRD: research, collected, analyzed data,validation, drew figures and made tables; JYZ, RZ, YZS, YRD: revised the paper for important intellectual content. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.