Serum zinc level and its association with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis

Background Zinc deficiency is evident in chronic diseases, but little is known about its association with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDRTB). We aimed to measure serum zinc level in MDRTB patients and explore its association with MDRTB compared to drug-sensitive tuberculosis (DSTB). Methods We recruited 107 MDRTB and 87 DSTB patients from a tuberculosis referral hospital in Bangladesh. After overnight fasting, 5 ml venous blood was collected from each patient to measure serum zinc level through graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry method. Multivariate logistic regression was done to measure its association with MDRTB. Results The mean age of all patients was 36 years, where 70% were male. About 27% MDRTB patients and 2.3% DSTB patients had low serum zinc level (P Conclusion A lower serum zinc level is significantly associated with MDRTB. The tuberculosis control program should address this in the MDRTB control strategy.