Effects of antimonial therapy on serum zinc, copper and iron concentrations in patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis

Objective In the present study, effects of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) infection on total content of essential trace elements and alterations of these element contents during antimonial therapy were investigated. Method 40 patients diagnosed with CL, and 32 healthy subject were included in the study. Pentavalent antimonial compounds (Glucantime) were given intramuscularly (20 mg/kg/day) for three weeks in the patient group. Serum copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) concentrations were measured by Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (FAAS), and iron (Fe) concentrations were measured by colorimetric method. Results Before antimonial therapy; Cu concentrations were found to be significantly higher than those of healthy subjects (p<0.05). However, Zn and Fe concentrations were lower in the patient group (p<0.01). Cu levels were found to have tendency to decrease, while Zn and Fe levels were increase during the period of antimonial therapy (p<0.001, p<0.01, p<0.01 respectively). Conclusion Our findings showed that serum trace element concentrations change in CL infection, probably parallel to host defense mechanisms, and these changes might partially be turned back to normal levels by antimonial therapy.