Zinc Deficiency and the Recurrence of Clostridium difficile Infection after Fecal Microbiota Transplant: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Table 1

Study cohort characteristics.

	Normal zinc (n = 49)	Low zinc (n = 31)	Total (n = 80)	value	Test utilized
Zinc
Serum zinc (µg/mL) (SD)	0.77 (0.09)	0.52 (0.08)	0.67 (0.15)	<0.001	t-test
Patient characteristics
Age, mean (SD)	65.10 (15.98)	68.39 (17.94)	66.38 (16.73)	0.396	t-test
Female gender, n (%)	43 (87.76)	16 (51.61)	59 (73.75)	<0.001	Chi-square
BMI, mean (SD)	27.22 (6.56)	27.17 (8.37)	27.20 (7.29)	0.976	t-test
Immunocompromised state, n (%)	4 (8.16)	8 (25.81)	12 (15.00)	0.051	Fischer’s exact
Charlson Comorbidity Index, mean (SD)	1.33 (1.83)	2.10 (2.20)	1.63 (2.00)	0.094	t-test
IBD, n (%)	2 (4.08)	10 (32.26)	12 (15.00)	<0.001	Fischer’s exact
Ulcerative colitis, n	1	4	5
Crohn’s colitis, n	1	2	3
Indeterminate colitis, n	0	4	4
CDI history
# CDIs, mean (SD)	3.59 (1.02)	4.10 (1.45)	3.79 (1.22)	0.096	t-test
# CDIs 6 mo before FMT, mean (SD)	2.84 (1.09)	2.74 (1.09)	2.80 (1.08)	0.706	t-test
# CDI hospitalizations, mean (SD)	1.12 (1.18)	1.23 (1.50)	1.16 (1.31)	0.733	t-test
# CDI hospitalizations 6 mo before FMT, mean (SD)	0.84 (1.11)	0.84 (1.04)	0.84 (1.07)	0.994	t-test

SD, standard deviation; BMI, body mass index; CDI, Clostridium difficile infection; IBD, inflammatory bowel disease; FMT, fecal microbiota transplant; mo, month.