THE LEVEL OF ZINC IN BLOOD PLASMA AND THE COURSE OF GALLSTONE DISEASE IN CHILDREN

Determining the zinc level in children's blood plasma is an urgent problem, given its possible participation in the formation of cholelithiasis.Aim. To investigate the level of zinc in the blood plasma and the clinical course of gallstone disease (GSD) in children.Methods. 69 children aged 10-17 years and 25 children without biliary tract pathology were selected by the method of simple randomization. Verification of the diagnosis was carried out by applying dynamic ultrasound examination and X-ray examination of the organs of the abdominal cavity. Quantitative determination of zinc in blood plasma was carried out using mass spectrometry.Results. Dysfunction of the biliary tract according to the hyperkinetic type occurred in 55.1±7.1% of children and according to the hypokinetic type in 44.9±3.9%. The asymptomatic variant of housing and communal services was observed in 23.9%, painful - in 54.3% of patients, paroxysmal - in 21.7% of patients. The plasma concentration of zinc in children with gastrointestinal diseases was 1.87 times lower than in children of the comparison group and 1.37 times lower than in children with hyperkinetic gallbladder dysfunction, while there was a probable difference between these indicators in children with housing and communal services and in children with the hypotonic type of gallbladder dysfunction (p<0.05).Conclusions. 1. The leading syndromes of gallstone disease in children were pain and dyspepsia. 2. Gallstone disease in children occurs against the background of gallbladder dysfunction with a predominance of the painful course, the formation of solitary bilirubin-derived concretions and minor changes in biochemical blood analysis. 3. The concentration of zinc in the blood plasma of children with gallstone disease is probably lower than in children of the comparison group and does not depend on age and gender.