Volume No : Volume: 02 Issue : 5 Year : 2014 Page No: 297-306
Authors : Suresh Kumar and Sunit Singhi
Abstract :
The purpose of the present article is to highlight the important role zinc and selenium play in various critical illnesses in children. There is also need to study various benefits and rationale for supplementation with these trace elements as a potential pharmacotherapeutic strategy in critically ill children and stimulating further research in this field. Normal homeostasis of zinc and selenium is required for proper functioning of immune system, adequate antioxidant activity, glucose homeostasis, and wound healing. In addition, zinc acts as a cofactor for many enzymes, transcription factors, and replication factors. In critically ill children, zinc and selenium levels are found to be low and few studies suggested that supplementation with zinc may be associated with clinical improvement in this group of patients. However, the evidence to recommend the routine use of zinc and selenium supplementation in the critically ill children is inadequate. Further studies are needed to uncover the exact mechanisms for low levels of zinc and selenium; therapeutic role of zinc and selenium supplementation; and optimal dose that has a maximal beneficial clinical effect on underlying inflammatory, immunologic, and various metabolic processes in critically ill children.
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