Korean J Prev Med.  1992 Jun;25(2):172-179.

A Study on Serum Zinc Concentration in some Methamphetamine Abusers

• Moon HI
• Lee HR
• Lee SI

Abstract

The author investigated the zinc concentrations in sera of 110 methamphetaimine abusers (male 87, female 23) and of 41 healthy official workers(male 29, female 12) using inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometer. The serum zinc concentrations were analysed according to hepatitis C virus antibody(Anti HCV), hepatitis B surface antigen(HBsAg) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) value in both groups. The analytical results were obtained as follows; 1. The mean zinc concentration of MAP abuser group(298.5+/-246.9 microgram/100 microliter) was 2.5 times higher than that of control group(118.8+/-25.4 microgram/100 microliter). 2. The distribution of zinc concentration in both groups were skewed pattern. 3. The zinc concentration were higher in Anti HCV-positive group and abnormal ALT value group than Anti HCV-negative group and normal ALT value group. But HBs-Ag positive group had lower zinc concentration than HBs-Ag negative group. 4. The number of anti HCV-positive subjects was increased and the zinc concentration were decreased in proportion to the abusing duration of MAP.

Keyword

methamphetamine abuser; zinc; anti-HCV; HBsAg; ICP

MeSH Terms

Alanine Transaminase
Female
Hepacivirus
Hepatitis B
Hepatitis B Surface Antigens
Humans
Methamphetamine*
Plasma
Zinc*
Alanine Transaminase
Hepatitis B Surface Antigens
Methamphetamine
Zinc