A Study of Serum Zinc in Depression

Introduction: Depression, a mood disorder is a common mental health problem in all sections of people of the society, and it causes physical, psychological and social symptoms. So, keeping this in mind, the study is carried out to estimate serum zinc in cases of depression and compare the levels with that of age and sex matched healthy controls. Aim: To measure the serum zinc in clinically diagnosed patients with depression and study their levels in different age groups and gender. Methods: serum zinc estimation is done by colorimetric method. Serum albumin estimation is done by Bromocresol Green (BCG) method. Results: Serum zinc was significantly (p<0.01) lower in the cases (58.55±8.70 μμg/dl) than in the controls (64.78±9.86 μg/dl). Conclusion: It is suggestive that Serum zinc levels being lower in cases of depression; may have a role on the causation or be a result of depression. So, longer duration of study and with a larger sample size may reveal significant insights on the role of this micronutrient in depression.