Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38012749›Full record

ArticleBMC nutrition2023

The effects of zinc supplementation on the metabolic factors in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial.

Seyed Mohammad Amin Rezaei, Farzaneh Mohammadi, Mohammad Hassan Eftekhari, Fardad Ejtehadi, Haleh Ghaem, Nazanin Mohammadipoor

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC nutrition, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.7field-weighted citation impact, top 14% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 8 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. ZnScientific reports · 2025
    Article
  5. Immunonutrition: Another Player on the MASLD Field.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025
    Review
  6. Review
  7. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Seyed Mohammad Amin Rezaei *Department of Clinical Nutrition, School of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
Farzaneh Mohammadi *Department of Clinical Nutrition, School of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
Mohammad Hassan EftekhariDepartment of Clinical Nutrition, School of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran. h_eftekhari@yahoo.com.
Fardad EjtehadiGastroenterohepatology Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
Haleh GhaemNon-Communicable Diseases Research Center, Department of Epidemiology, School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
Nazanin MohammadipoorDepartment of Clinical Nutrition, School of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
Shiraz University of Medical Sciences · IR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundNon-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is associated with metabolic factors including obesity, dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, oxidative stress, and elevated inflammatory factors. Zinc (Zn) supplementation has been investigated as a potential adjunctive therapy in managing NAFLD outcomes.

methodsIn this randomized, double-blinded, controlled clinical trial, 50 overweight or obese participants with NAFLD were randomized into 2 groups of 25 and received either 30 mg of daily Zn or a placebo for 8 weeks. Both groups were invited to follow a balanced energy-restricted diet and physical activity recommendations.

resultsBased on the between-group comparison, Zn supplementation caused a significant increase in the Zn level (P < 0.001) and a significant decrease in weight (P = 0.004), body mass index (BMI) (P = 0.002), waist circumference (P = 0.010), aspartate transaminase (AST) (P = 0.033), total cholesterol (TC) (P = 0.045), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (P = 0.014), but it had no significant effect on alanine transaminase (ALT), fasting blood sugar (FBS), insulin, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), triglyceride (TG), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), malondialdehyde (MDA), and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) (P > 0.05).

conclusionThe results of the present study indicated that 8-week supplementation of 30 mg daily Zn may increase the Zn serum level and decline anthropometric parameters, AST, TC, and LDL-C in NAFLD patients, so further research is suggested in the future.

trial registrationThe trial was retrospectively registered at IRCT.ir as IRCT20191015045113N1 (December/8/2019).

Indexed as

AminotransferasesMetabolic factorsNon-alcoholic fatty Liver DiseaseZinc

Identifiers

PMID38012749
PMCPMC10683204
OpenAlexW4389047621

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.