EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Title
The Potential Use of Zinc Salt in Coronavirus Disease ( COVID-19)
Objective
The objective of this report is to access current available evidence on the potential of zinc salt in COVID-19 management based on the following:
- Efficacy : Focusing on reported properties of 1 : antiviral, 2: modulation of immune response, and 3: role as other supportive theraphy or management of disease related complications; and their respective potential mechanism(s) of actions.
- Safety of zinc salt
Methodology
Electronic databases were searched using pre-determined terminologies such as ‘zinc’, ‘antiviral’, immunomodulatory’ , immune response’, ‘ mechanism of action’, and safety. All clinical and preclinical studies (both in vitro and in vivo) related to safety and efficacy or effectiveness of zinc salt in treating viral disease were included.
Result and discussion
Based on the available evidence, zinc has the ability to inhibit the replication of SARS-CoV from in vitro studies, while there is no published scientific evidence on its activity in the SARS-CoV-2 virus yet. It is also found that for zinc to exert its pharmacological antiviral effects, combination with zinc ionophores such as hydrochloroquine or pyrithione may be required. Zinc homeostasis is important to maintain immune function .However based on available data and currecnt understanding of the immune related pathogenesis of COVID-19, it is still too early to conclude its efficacy on human used in COVID-19 as few clinical trials are still on-going. When optimising zinc dose, several factors need to be taken into account including type of zinc salt used, amount of elemental zinc, dosage of the zinc ionophore used in combination , and safety data (ensuring no excessive zinc administered and side effects from zinc ionophores used)
Conclusion:
In conclusion, zinc supplementation seems to play more of a preventive role, especially in deficiency cases, rather than as a treatment since there is human evidence of routine zinc supplementation (more than three months) having positive effects in reducing the duration of respiratory tract infections.
