Zinc involvement in opioid addiction and analgesia – should zinc supplementation be recommended for opioid-treated persons?

Table 1 A table with a synthesis of above-presented data referring to zinc misbalances in conditions of opioid administration is presented below

biological fluid or structure where zinc concentration was determined		zinc concentration evolution compared to controls and mechanisms or details (where available)
serum or plasma		decreased	Sadlik J. et al., 2000 (humans – in case of heroin users; tendency to normalize upon detoxification treatment, but not reaching levels in control group) [44]
			Elnimr T. et al., 1999 (humans – correlated with the abuse period) [45]
			Ruiz Martinez M. et al., 1999 (humans – accompanied by increased copper) [46]
			Iyengar V. et al., 1994 (humans – due to increased renal elimination) [69]
		increased	Floriańczyk B., 2000 (mice, morphine) [77]
red blood cells		decreased	Ruiz Martinez M. et al., 1999 (humans) [46]
cerebrospinal fluid		decreased	Potkin S.G. et al., 1982 (humans) [47]
other tissues	brain	decreased	Floriańczyk B., 2000 (mice, morphine) [77]
	brain	decreased	Gulya K. et al., 1991 (rats) (parietal cortex, hippocampus and striatum) – induced by the δ- agonist (D-Pen2, D-Pen5)enkephalin, antagonized by naloxon [11]
	liver	increased	Hidalgo J. et al., 1991 (rats, morphine) [75]
	liver	decreased	Floriańczyk B., 2000 (mice, morphine) [77]
	lungs, kidney	decreased	Floriańczyk B., 2000 (mice, morphine) [77]
	heart, spleen, muscle	increased	Floriańczyk B., 2000 (mice, morphine) [77]