Potential health benefits of zinc supplementation for the management of COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) is the etiological agent for the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID‐19). The COVID‐19 pandemic has created unimaginable and unprecedented global health crisis. Since the outbreak of COVID‐19, millions of dollars have been spent, hospitalization overstretched with increasing morbidity and mortality. All these have resulted in unprecedented global economic catastrophe. Several drugs and vaccines are currently being evaluated, tested, and administered in the frantic efforts to stem the dire consequences of COVID‐19 with varying degrees of successes. Zinc possesses potential health benefits against COVID‐19 pandemic by improving immune response, minimizing infection and inflammation, preventing lung injury, inhibiting viral replication through the interference of the viral genome transcription, protein translation, attachment, and host infectivity. However, this review focuses on the various mechanisms of action of zinc and its supplementation as adjuvant for vaccines an effective therapeutic regimen in the management of the ravaging COVID‐19 pandemic.