01638nas a2200277   4500000000100000008004100001260001700042653001200059653000900071653001100080653001200091653001400103653001400117653001100131653003000142653000900172100001300181700001400194700001400208245010300222300001100325490000700336050003200343520097100375022001401346       1993                            d  c1993 Oct-Dec10aCalcium10aDiet10aHumans10aleprosy10aMagnesium10aPotassium10aSodium10aSpectrophotometry, Atomic10aZinc1 aMennen U1 aHowells C1 aWiese A J00aSerum zinc, sodium, calcium, magnesium and potassium levels and standard diet in leprosy patients.  a415-210 v65  aInfolep Library - available3 a<p>Serum zinc levels were estimated in different types of leprosy by means of the atomic absorption spectrophotometry method in 64 leprosy patients, comprising of tuberculoid tuberculoid (TT) (5), borderline tuberculoid (BT) (6), borderline borderline (BB) (10), borderline lepromatous (BL) (13), lepromatous lepromatous (LL) (14) and burnt-out leprosy (BO) (16). These findings were evaluated in comparison to 86 normal control subjects who were served the same standard diet. Serum zinc levels were significantly low in the total leprosy group. The findings of this study are of clinical importance as zinc deficiency can be one of the factors involved in suppression of cell-mediated immunity (CMI) in lepromatous leprosy. This again has a bearing on the management of wounds and wound healing. This study also reveals that altered levels of the serum elements (eg. calcium and sodium) have a direct association with the disease and not with food deprivation.</p>  a0254-9395