International Journal of Contemporary Pediatrics | November-December 2017 | Vol 4 | Issue 6 Page 2036 International Journal of Contemporary Pediatrics Kumar D et al. Int J Contemp Pediatr. 2017 Nov;4(6):2036-2040 http://www.ijpediatrics.com pISSN 2349-3283 | eISSN 2349-3291 Original Research Article Effect of zinc therapy in remission of pediatric nephrotic syndrome Dinesh Kumar, Priyanka Arya, Indra Kumar Sharma*, Mukesh Vir Singh INTRODUCTION Nephrotic syndrome is an important chronic disease in children. Nephrotic syndrome can be idiopathic as well as non-idiopathic in nature. However, idiopathic nephrotic syndrome is more common, affecting nearly 90% of children. 1 INS result from any of several well-described primary glomerulopathies that are defined by histopathology and clinical criteria About 80% children with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome show remission of proteinuria following treatment with corticosteroids, and are classified as ‘steroid sensitive’. 2 Steroid therapy results in remission of proteinuria in steroid sensitive nephrotic syndrome (SSNS) but develop relapses in 40-50% of cases usually following infections. 3 Adequate oral corticosteroid therapy is recommended at the initial episode of nephrotic syndrome in children. The commonly used preparations are prednisone (USA) or prednisolone (most other countries including India). On the basis of the ISKDC Study Around 95% of children with steroid-responsive nephrotic syndrome will demonstrate resolution of proteinuria with 4 weeks of daily glucocorticoid therapy and 100% after an additional 3 weeks of alternate-day therapy. 4 Zinc is a vital micronutrient in humans and is essential for protein synthesis, cell growth, and differentiation. Epidermal, gastrointestinal, central nervous, immune, skeletal, and reproductive systems are the organs most affected clinically by zinc deficiency. 5 Severe zinc Department of Pediatrics, Uttar Pradesh university of Medical Sciences, Saifai, Etawah, Uttar Pradesh, India Received: 11 October 2017 Accepted: 16 October 2017 *Correspondence: Dr. Indra Kumar Sharma, E-mail: driksharma0107@gmail.com Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ABSTRACT Background: Zinc has been used in diarrhea since long but their efficacy in nephrotic syndrome still requires evidences. The objectives of this study were to determine the effect of Zinc in nephrotic syndrome among the children in rural population. Methods: Randomized control trial. We included 60 children of age group 6 months - 15 years diagnosed as nephrotic syndrome and fulfilling the inclusion criteria. All children were given standard steroid therapy for duration depending on initial or relapse cases while intervention arm (n=30) were given zinc syrup at the dose 10 mg for less than 1 year and 20 mg for more than 1 year for 14 days apart from standard steroid therapy. Duration of remission in both the groups was measured as primary outcome while secondary outcome was duration of hospital stay in both control and study group. Results: Mean number of days taken in remission in study group was 11.8±3.96 days and in control group 18.3±5.14 days (p <0.001). Total duration of study in hospital in study group was 13.07±4.86 days and in control group was 20.50±7.06 days (p <0.001). Conclusions: Zinc significantly reduced the duration of hospital stay and remission in children suffering from nephrotic syndrome. Keywords: Efficacy, Nephrotic syndrome, Remission, Steroids, Zinc DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2349-3291.ijcp20174726