Association Between Neonatal Hyperbilirubinemia and Serum Zinc Levels in Dhaka City of Bangladesh

Neonatal hyperbilirubinemia is a common clinical condition in the first week of neonatal life. The common causes are haemolytic disease of the newborn (rhesus), ABO incompatibility, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency, spherocytosis and infection. Any study was not conducted in Bangladesh to find out the correlation between neonatal hyperbilirubinemia and zinc level. So, the objective of this was to evaluate the correlation between the level of serum zinc and neonatal hyperbilirubinemia in Dhaka city of Bangladesh. This cross sectional study was done at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Dhaka, Bangladesh. Total 594 numbers of sample were collected from neonatology department of BSMMU from January 2016 to April 2019 and samples were divided in two groups. Case group and control group consists 319 and 275 numbers of sample respectively. All the laboratory parameters were done at clinical pathology department of BSMMU by automated analyzer machine and strictly followed quality control. Data obtained were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) version 20. Results were considered statistically significant if p<0.05. The result showed that the level of serum bilirubin was 171.14 mg/L and 35.42 mg/L and the level of serum zinc was (0.50 mg/L) and (0.68mg/L) in case and control group respectively. The bilirubin level was significantly (p<0.001) high in case group and zinc level was significantly (p<0.001) decreased in case group when compared with control group. Is also showed there was a significant (p value<0.001) correlation between hyperbilirubinemia and serum zinc level in this study. Therefore, it can be concluded, the deficiency of zinc may have a relationship followed by in neonatal hyperbilirubinemia.