Parâmetros funcionais de crianças saudáveis suplementadas com zinco e de meninos com distrofia muscular de Duchenne

Abstract

Childhood is a period of rapid growth and development. Zinc is a micronutrient that exerts essential structural functions and acts in the maintenance of cellular function. Functional indicators of nutritional status for the evaluation of children include anthropometric indices and measures of body composition assessment. The parameters derived from bioelectrical impedance, phase angle (AP) and bioelectrical impedance vector analysis (BIVA) have been associated with the integrity of the cell membrane and cellular body mass. Also, BIVA is useful in evaluating other clinical conditions, where traditional assessment methods are not reliable. Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a disease characterized by progressive loss of functional muscle mass followed by changes in body composition. To date, no studies are evaluating the influence of different doses of oral zinc supplementation on cell integrity and functionality, using AF and BIVA as evaluation methods. This dissertation aimed to analyze the functional parameters in healthy children supplemented with zinc and described the functional parameters in children with DMD. For this to happen, two studies were conducted. The first one evaluated changes in the functional parameters of 71 healthy children supplemented orally with zinc at different concentrations (Study 1) and the second described the functional parameters in 41 boys with DMD (Study 2). As a result, we have seen that for healthy children supplementation with 10 mg-Zn / day promoted changes in cell membrane integrity associated with increased cell mass. We also found that, in comparison with the reference population, boys with DMD had lower levels of body cell mass. Understanding that zinc plays a vital role in the cell membrane, the results of this dissertation will serve as the basis for a future study evaluating oral zinc supplementation in other populations, such as boys with DMD.