OBJECTIVE: To review the literature related to zinc and zinc level in children and adolescents with chronic liver diseases. DATA SOURCES: The following key-words were used to retrieve studies from PubMed, SciELO and Web of Science databases: "zinc", "liver diseases", "child" and "adolescent". National and international studies published from 1998-2008 were selected as well as classical studies on the theme. DATA SYNTHESIS: Zinc is an essential mineral for children's health with several functions in the organism, improving defense mechanisms, growth, sexual and cognitive development. Children with liver diseases seem to be more susceptible to zinc deficiency than healthy children, since their liver illness modifies the metabolism of this mineral, mainly regarding the distribution on tissues and elimination. The zinc level in the plasma seems to be low in these patients, but this index does not reflect the real zinc status in the organism; additionally, the urinary elimination of zinc seems to increase. CONCLUSIONS: More studies are needed in order to understand zinc status in children and adolescents with chronic liver diseases.
zinc; liver diseases; child; adolescent
