Zinc deficiency may be a cause of burning mouth syndrome as zinc replacement therapy has therapeutic effects

A selection of abstracts of clinically relevant papers from other journals. The abstracts on this page have been chosen and edited by John R. Radford.

Abstract

In those patients with burning mouth syndrome (BMS) who were 'zinc deficient', zinc replacement therapy had favourable outcomes.

Main

Cho GS, Han MW et al. J Oral Pathol Med 2010; 39: 722–727

In a group of 276 patients with BMS, the authors report that 26.8% had low serum zinc levels. A sub-group of 32 patients who had low serum zinc levels, then received zinc replacement (14.1 mg/day) plus a steroid gargle. A control group of 23 patients were prescribed the steroid gargle only. Six months later, the 'mean decrease in pain score after treatment were significantly greater in the zinc replacement than in the control group' (p = 0.004). Interestingly, over half the subjects in the control group also reported complete or partial relief of symptoms. In a separate experiment using Sprague-Dawley male rats, zinc deficiency was associated with 'hyperkeratinisation and increased mitosis on the dorsum of the tongue'.