2024, Vol. 6, Issue 3, Part A

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) kill and hurt more people than any other disease or condition in the world. Dietary input, especially zinc (Zn) and copper (Cu), has a strong link to CVD.

Aims of the study: Knowing the relationship between zinc and copper levels and their effect on cardiovascular diseases.

Methodology: A case-control study conducted at Al-Sadr general hospital and Maysan heart center in Maysan Governorate, Iraq from Augest 2023 to March 2024, included a control group of 60 healthy individuals (40 males and 20 females), a group of 80 individuals diagnosed with acute coronary syndrome (50 males and 30 females), in addition to 40 individuals diagnosed with chronic stable angina (22 males and 18 females). The ages of the participants ranged Between 28 and 67 years old. Individuals with preexisting diseases such as cancer, inflammatory or autoimmune diseases, or receiving immunosuppressive medications or statins were excluded for their potential influence on study variables. 5 milliliters of blood was collected from each participant and the extracted samples were stored after centrifugation at -20 °C for analysis by colorimetric detection of zinc and copper concentrations.

Result: The results did not show statistically significant differences in zinc and copper levels between males and females in cases of acute myocardial infarction, and copper levels were higher in men. While in chronic infarction, the data showed a trend of differences in zinc levels, while copper levels were similar between genders. There were statistically significant differences between the three study groups in the level of these two elements, indicating the presence of differences according to gender in their levels.

Conclusions: The study found that there were no statistically significant differences in zinc and copper levels between men and women who had acute or chronic heart attacks. There were changes in both elements based on gender, and copper levels were only slightly different in chronic heart patients with diabetes.