ORIGINAL ARTICLE

The Effect of Zinc Supplementation in

Adult Patients with Acute Diarrhea
Deskian Kostermans*, Marcellus Simadibrata*, Irsan Hasan**, Laras Budiyani***
* Department of Internal Medicine, Pertamina Central Hospital, Jakarta
** Division of Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine
University of Indonesia/Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo General National Hospital, Jakarta
*** Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine
University of Indonesia/Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo General National Hospital, Jakarta

ABSTRACT

Background: Acute diarrhea is a common problem in developing country such as Indonesia with quite high
morbidity andmortality rate. It was revealed that the level of zinc deficiency in adult acute diarrhea patients
in several hospitals in Jakarta was 69.3%. Although zinc has been proven to be beneficial in the treatment of
acute diarrhea in pediatric patients, the effect of zinc supplementation is not fully understood. The objective of
this study was to discover the effectiveness of zinc supplementation as an adjuvant therapy in acute diarrhea
for adult patients.
Method: A double blind randomized controlled trial was done to discover the effect of zinc supplementation
to the duration, signs and symptoms on acute diarrhea in hospitalized adults patients in Pertamina Central
Hospital, Jakarta from January to December 2013. The data was analyzed using Chi-square test to compare the
duration of diarrhea and general linear model (GLM) to assess changes of the symptoms accompanying diarrhea.
Results: Data analysis from 84 patients, 30 males (19 zinc, 11 placebo) and 54 females (23 zinc, 31 placebo)
with p = 0.111 showed that zinc supplementation significantly reduced the duration of acute diarrhea (p = 0.027)
and nausea (p = 0.032). In addition there is a tendency of improvement in several acute diarrhea associated
symptoms.
Conclusion: Zinc supplementation significantly reduces the duration of diarrhea, nausea, as well as improving
some symptoms accompanying acute diarrhea.

Keywords: zinc supplementation, acute diarrhea, adult patient

ABSTRAK

Latar belakang: Diare akut adalah masalah umum di negara berkembang seperti Indonesia dengan angka
morbiditas dan mortalitas yang cukup tinggi. Pada beberapa rumah sakit di Jakarta ditemukan bahwa pasien
diare akut dewasa mengalami defisiensi kadar seng sebesar 69.3%. Pemberian seng terbukti bermanfaat
untuk pengobatan diare akut pada anak. Namun, efek suplementasi seng pada pasien dewasa belum diketahui
sepenuhnya. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui dampak suplementasi seng sebagai terapi alternatif/
adjuvant untuk pengobatan diare akut pada pasien dewasa.
Metode: Double blind randomized controlled trial diterapkan pada penelitian ini untuk mengetahui efek
suplementasi seng terhadap durasi dan gejala gastrointestinal pada pasien diare akut rawat inap di Rumah
Sakit Pusat Pertamina, Jakarta selama periode Januari hingga Desember 2013. Analisis data dilakukan dengan
menggunakan uji Chi-square untuk perbandingan durasi diare dan uji model linear umum untuk menilai tren
perubahan gejala penyerta diare.
Hasil: Analisis data dari 84 pasien yang dikelola, yaitu 30 pasien laki-laki (seng 19, plasebo 11) dan 54 pasien
perempuan (seng 23, plasebo 31) dengan p = 0.111 memperlihatkan pemberian suplementasi seng bermakna

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mengurangi durasi diare akut (p = 0.027) dan bermakna mengurangi gejala mual (p = 0.032). Selain itu ada
tren perbaikan pada sebagian gejala penyerta diare akut.
Simpulan: Pemberian suplementasi seng bermakna mengurangi durasi diare dan gejala mual, serta perbaikan
pada sebagian gejala gastrointestinal.

Kata kunci: suplementasi seng, diare akut, pasien dewasa

INTRODUCTION that evaluate zinc level in adult diarrhea patients in

Jakarta.4 This study was conducted in Pertamina Central
Acute diarrhea is a common problem in developing
Hospital from January 2013 until December 2013.
countries, such as Indonesia. The morbidity and
The inclusive criteria that were included were age
mortality rate of diarrhea in Indonesia are relatively
between 18 to 60 years old and acute diarrhea without
high.1-2 According to studies taken in Indonesia,
complication. Meanwhile the exclusive criteria were
diarrhea is the 13th leading cause of death.2 Diarrhea
patients with irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory
is frequently accompanied with gastrointestinal
bowel disease and chronic diarrhea, colon disease
symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain,
such as inflammatory bowel due to radiation, bowel
fever, bloody stool, and rectal tenesmus.3 In most of
adhesion, colon cancer, gastrointestinal operation
cases, acute diarrhea is a self-limiting disease, but
within 3 months, patients who received antibiotics,
in some cases, it can be severe and life threatening.
kidney failure, metabolic acidosis, hypovolemic
Therefore, an effective and precise therapy is needed
shock, immunosuppressant and/or immunomodulator
to reduce the morbidity and mortality rate.
recipients, not cooperative, every disease that could
In developing countries, diarrhea is often related
endanger patient, known or suggestive allergic to the
with zinc deficiency. In a study carried out in Division
research or related products, for women in childbearing
of Gastroenterology, Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital,
age: currently pregnant, breastfeed, or intent to get
Jakarta in 2011, proportion of zinc deficiency in adult
pregnant, and patients who underwent chemotherapy
with acute diarrhea was 69.3%.4 This founding is
and/or radiotherapy.
consistent with zinc deficiency in children with acute
Sample recruitment was carried out consecutively
diarrhea. 5 Recent meta-analysis showed that zinc
for all patients who were admitted in Pertamina
supplementation reduce the incidence of diarrhea
Central Hospital. Patients who met the inclusive and
to 20%, particularly in children below 1 year old.6
exclusive criteria were randomized into zinc group and
Although the mechanism of zinc in diarrhea is not fully
placebo group. The zinc group received 20 mg zinc
understood, zinc showed great benefit in strengthening
sulphatetwice a day for 7 days. Patients were given a
immunity against infection and reducing the duration
diary to monitor their conditions and symptoms.
and risk of diarrhea.4 It is suggested that zinc increases
The patients fulfilled the criteria underwent several
intestinal fluid absorption, aids organism elimination,
steps that included history taking, and physical
and enhances mucosal integrity and regeneration as
examination. The data collected were age, sex, body
well as interrelated with the immune system.6
mass index (BMI), the severity of acute diarrhea,
There is a shortage of data about zinc deficiency in
length of diarrhea, and other symptoms such as fever,
adult population with diarrhea. National data about zinc
abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, tenesmus, bloody
deficiency, including subclinical deficiency in adults, is
stool, thirst, stool consistency, mucus in stool, less
scarce. Hence, this study aimed the symptoms related
urination, disturbed daily activities, and headache.
with zinc deficiency in adult patients with diarrhea,
SPSS for Windows version 17 was used to data
as well as the effects of zinc supplementation towards
analysis. The data was presented using texts, tables or
recovery and relieving diarrhea associated symptoms.
graphics; Chi-square was used to analyze the duration
of diarrhea, and general linear model (GLM) was used
METHOD
to analyze the diarrhea associated symptoms.
This is a double blind randomized control trial This study was approved and received ethical
study. This study, which investigated the effects of clearance from the Medical Committee of Ethics,
zinc supplementation in adult acute diarrhea patients Faculty of Medicine, University of Indonesia. Every
compared with placebo, was a continuation of the study data collected from medical records were classified.

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 The Effect of Zinc Supplementation in Adult Patients with Acute Diarrhea

RESULTS Table 2. Proportions of diarrhea associated symptoms before

the treatment
A total of 84 patients with acute diarrhea that fulfill Group
the inclusion and exclusion criteria, were enrolled Variable n (%)
in this study, with a proportion of 30 male and 54 Placebo Zinc
Frequency of bowel movements
females. There were neither significant difference 3-5 11 (64.7) 6 (35.3)
of the subjects’ characteristics nor the diarrhea types 6-10 11 (50.0) 11 (50.0)
> 10 20 (44.4) 25 (55.6)
between two groups. The proportion of symptoms
Stool consistency
before the treatment was not significantly different, Liquid 32 (58.2) 23 (41.8)
except for the fever (p = 0.028). Watery (½ liquid, ½ solid) 10 (34.5) 19 (65.5)
Mucus
Mone 38 (51.4) 36 (48.6)
Table 1. Patients characteristics and the type of diarrhea
Mild 2 (25.0) 6 (75.0)
Group Average 2 (100.0) 0 (0.0)
Variable n (%) Tenesmus
Placebo Zinc None 40 (49.4) 41 (50.6)
Sex Present 2 (66.7) 1 (33.33)
Male 11 (26.2) 19 (45.2) Abdominal pain
Female 31 (73.8) 23 (54.8) None 7 (63.6) 4 (36.4)
Age (years) Mild 14 (53.8) 12 (46.2)
< 20 1 (50.0) 1 (50.0) Average 21 (44.7) 26 (55.3)
20-30 11 (52.4) 10 (47.6) Severe 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0)
31-40 17 (58.6) 12 (41.4) Nausea
41-50 6 (42.9) 8 (57.1) None 2 (40.0) 3 (60.0)
51-60 8 (44.4) 10 (55.6) Mild 16 (50.0) 16 (50.0)
Diarrhea type Average 23 (53.5) 20 (46.5)
Infectious diarrhea 10 (23.8) 18 (42.9) Severe 1 (25.0) 3 (75.0)
Non-infectious diarrhea 32 (76.2) 18 (42.9) Vomiting
Etiology of infection None 17 (53.1) 15 (46.9)
Virus 5 (11.9) 4 (9.5) Mild 14 (46.7) 16 (53.3)
Bacteria 0 (0.0) 1 (2.4) Average 11 (50.0) 11 (50.0)
Fungus 3 (7.1) 8 (19.0) Severe 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0)
Parasite 0 (0.0) 1 (2.4) Flatulence
Non-infectious causes None 3 (30.0) 7 (70.0)
Not specific 30 (71.4) 27 (64.3) Mild 21 (51.2) 20 (48.8)
Food 4 (9.5) 1(2.4) Average 18 (54.5) 15 (45.5)
Stool color Severe 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0)
Brown 6 (14.3) 9 (21.4) Fever
Green 3 (7.1) 2 (4.8) Present 24 (64.9) 29 (61.7)
Yellow 32 (76.2) 31 (73.8) None 18 (38.3) 13 (35.1)
White 1 (2.4) 0 (0.0) Headache
Blood in stool None 18 (52.9) 16 (47.1)
None 42 (50.6) 41 (49.4) Mild 23 (51.1) 22 (48.90
Present 0 (0.0) 1 (100.0) Average 1 (20.0) 4 (80.0)
Severe 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0)
Less urination
Through the data collected from 84 patients during Present 39 (51.3) 37 (48.7)
None 3 (37.5) 5 (62.5)
7 days of treatment, there was a significant difference of
Thirsty
diarrhea duration reduction between the two groups (p Present 29 (53.7) 25 (46.3)
= 0.027). Regarding the analysis of diarrhea associated None 13 (43.3) 17 (56.7)
Disturbing daily activities
symptoms, there was only significant difference in None 4 (100.0) 0 (0.0)
nausea (p = 0.032). However, zinc supplementation Mild 22 (52.4) 20 (47.6)
Average 16 (42.1) 22 (57.9)
showed trends of improvement in some diarrhea Severe 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0)
associated symptoms, consisting of abdominal pain,
frequency of bowel movement, stool consistency,
vomiting, flatulence, and disturbed daily activities.
Meanwhile, there was no difference in thirst, less
urination, and fever parameters in both groups before
and after the study.

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supplementation reduce the severity of diarrhea in

children in India.10 Zinc was found to lower the severity
and incidence of persistent diarrhea in adults with
HIV-1 infection.11 Meta-analysis reported by Galvao
et all also concluded that zinc supplementation gave a
significant effect in reducing the duration of diarrhea.12
A double blind randomized controlled trial using 20
mg zinc or placebo daily showed a decrease of diarrhea
prevalence and incidence by -48% (p = 0.20) and -50%
(p = 0.17) respectively.13
Figure 1. The comparison of diarrhea duration between zinc This double blind randomized controlled trial
and placebo group (p= 0.027)
experimental study was done with 84 samples treated
either as zinc group or placebo group. However, the
DISCUSSION
limitation in this study was that most of the patients
This study focused on the effect of zinc supplemen- were discharged from hospital on the third day of
tation to adult patient with acute diarrhea. Zinc is admission. Therefore, the data were collected using
one of essential micronutrients needed for the body phone calls that were not enough detail and laboratory
processes.7 Zinc is known for its anti-inflammatory analysis was not possible because many patients did
and antioxidant effect as well as the role in immunity. not control after 1 week. Furthermore, the data was
Zinc effect towards acute diarrhea is due to its function gathered from one hospital that only included patients
in cellular works in increasing water and electrolyte from moderate to higher social status.
intestinal absorption, enhancing intestinal epithelial
regeneration, and improving brush border enzyme in
CONCLUSION
the enterocyte.8 Zinc also has a role in immunity. Zinc
deficiency is e health problem in developing countries. From this study, we can conclude that zinc
Zinc supplementation significantly reduces the rate of supplementation could enhance the improvement
diarrhea.7.9 of acute diarrhea, reduce nausea, and have trends in
After conducting the experimental study with improving several diarrhea associated symptoms, such
adjustment to age, comorbid, and history of medical as abdominal pain, frequency of bowel movements,
treatment using the bivariate analysis, we found that the stool consistency, vomiting, flatulence, and disturbed
zinc supplementation significantly reduce the diarrhea daily activities. Because of that, zinc supplementation
duration (p = 0.027). Besides that, it also significantly can be considered to be an additional therapy in adult
improve nausea in acute diarrheal patient (p = 0.032). acute diarrhea patients. Furthermore, another study
This study is concordance with previous with better methodology which consists of every social
study conducted in India which showed that zinc strata should be carried out following this study.
Table 3. The comparison of diarrhea associated symptoms between zinc and placebo group
Day
Variable Group p
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Abdominal pain Placebo 1.6 (0.09) 1.31 (0.09) 1.11 (0.06) 1.00 (0.03) 1.00 (0.0) 1.00 (0.0) 1.00 (0.0)
0.194
Zinc 1.71 (0.09) 1.43 (0.09) 1.17 (0.06) 1.09 (0.03) 1.00 (0.0) 1.00 (0.0) 1.00 (0.0)
Frequency of bowel Placebo 3.12 (0.15) 2.64 (0.12) 2.21 (0.13) 2.05 (0.7) 1.98 (0.06) 1.98 (0.05) 1.98 (0.05)
0.276
movement Zinc 3.43 (0.15) 2.93 (0.12) 2.33 (0.13) 2.09 (0.79) 2.12 (0.07) 1.95 (0.05) 1.95 (0.05)
Stool consistency Placebo 1.76 (0.08) 1.93 (0.06) 1.93 (0.15) 2.43 (0.14) 2.45 (0.14) 2.76 (0.12) 2.76 (0.12)
0.833
Zinc 1.76 (0.07) 2.00 (0.66) 2.14 (0.15) 2.26 (0.14) 2.5 (0.13) 2.78 (0.12) 2.78 (0.12)
Mucus present Placebo 1.048 (0.04) 1.024 (0.02) 1.00 (0.017) 1.00 (0.0) 1.00 (0.0) 1.00 (0.0) 1.00 (0.0)
0.393
Zinc 1.95 (0.04) 1.024 (0.02) 1.02 (0.017) 1.00 (0.0) 1.00 (0.0) 1.00 (0.0) 1.00 (0.0)
Nausea Placebo 1.64 (0.11) 1.40 (0.08) 1.31 (0.06) 1.09 (0.05) 1.05 (0.04) 1.00 (0.0) 1.00 (0.0)
0.032
Zinc 1.88 (0.11) 1.50 (0.08) 1.20 (0.06) 1.20 (0.05) 1.11 (0.04) 1.00 (0.0) 1.00 (0.0)
Vomiting Placebo 1.476 (0.10) 1.20 (0.06) 1.14 (0.045) 1.048 (0.03) 1.00 (0.0) 1.00 (0.0) 1.00 (0.0)
0.570
Zinc 1.48 (0.10) 1.21 (0.06) 1.05 (0.045) 1.024 (0.03) 1.00 (0.0) 1.00 (0.0) 1.00 (0.0)
Flatulence Placebo 1.50 (0.10) 1.24 (0.07) 1.12 (0.06) 1.00 (0.02) 1.00 (0.0) 1.00 (0.0) 1.00 (0.0)
0.538
Zinc 1.60 (0.10) 1.31 (0.07) 1.21 (0.05) 1.05 (0.24) 1.00 (0.0) 1.00 (0.0) 1.00 (0.0)
Disturbed daily Placebo 1.67 (0.11) 1.29 (0.07) 1.09 (0.05) 1.00 (0.024) 1.00 (0.0) 1.00 (0.0) 1.00 (0.0) 0.148
activities Zinc 1.93 (0.11) 1.54 (0.07) 1.09 (0.05) 1.05 (0.02) 1.00 (0.0) 1.00 (0.0) 1.00 (0.0)

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 The Effect of Zinc Supplementation in Adult Patients with Acute Diarrhea

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Correspondence:
Deskian Kostermans
Department of Internal Medicine
Pertamina Central Hospital
Jl. Kyai Maja No. 43 Jakarta Indonesia
Phone: +62-21-7219176 Facsimile: +62-21-7219190
E-mail: [email protected]

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