Zinc supplementation combined with antidepressant drugs for treatment of patients with depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Amongst trace elements, zinc is crucial for maintaining healthy neural structure and cerebral functionality. Zinc supplements have been postulated to play a role in preventing and treating depression, as evidenced by a decrease in the symptoms of depression observed in clinical studies following zinc supplementation. In their review, Da Silva et al. (2021) investigated if zinc supplements could prevent or ameliorate symptoms of depression in adults, adolescents, or children. Through searching five electronic databases and reviewing eligible published randomized, controlled, crossover trials dated up to September 2019 (n = 12,322, 5 qualified for meta-analysis), the extrapolated evidence pointed to a reduction of depressive symptoms in participants receiving zinc supplementation compared to placebo. This reduction was more substantial in participants aged 40 or more years, however, a meta-analysis of the eligible studies did not show a significant effect of zinc supplementation on symptoms of depression. In conclusion, the authors comment that zinc supplementation could decrease symptoms of depression in patients receiving antidepressant treatment for clinical depression. [NPID: Depression, depressive symptoms, meta-analysis, zinc]

Year: 2021

Reference: da Silva, L., de Santana, M., Costa, P., Pereira, E. M., Nepomuceno, C., Queiroz, V., de Oliveira, L., Machado, M., & de Sena, E. P. (2021). Zinc supplementation combined with antidepressant drugs for treatment of patients with depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Nutrition reviews, 79(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1093/nutrit/nuaa039

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