The effect of zinc supplementation on blood pressure: a systematic review and dose–response meta-analysis of randomized-controlled trials

Purpose Despite previous investigations on the effects of zinc supplementation on blood pressure, inconsistent findings are available in this regard. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials on the effects of zinc supplementation on blood pressure (BP) in adults. Methods Relevant studies published up to September 2019 were searched through PubMed/Medline, Scopus, ISI Web of Science, and Google Scholar using suitable keywords. All randomized clinical trials (RCTs) that examined the effect of oral zinc supplementation on systolic blood pressure (SBP) or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) in adults were included. Results Overall, nine trials were included in our study. Zinc supplementation significantly reduced SBP compared to the control [weighted mean differences (WMD) − 1.49 mmHg; 95% CI − 2.85 to − 0.13; P = 0.03]. However, zinc supplementation had no significant effects on DBP (WMD − 0.88 mmHg; 95% CI − 2.04 to 0.29; P = 0.14). Nonlinear analysis failed to indicate a significant influence of supplementation dosage or duration on both SBP and DBP. Sensitivity analysis showed that no individual study had a significant impact on our final results. In addition, we found no evidence for the presence of small-study effects among studies for both SBP and DBP. Conclusion We found a significant reduction in SBP following zinc supplementation. However, zinc supplementation had no significant effect on DBP. In addition, no nonlinear association was found between supplementation dosage and duration with changes in both SBP and DBP. Further RCTs using different dosages of zinc in various durations are required to confirm our conclusion.