Zinc Acetate Dosage

Medically reviewed by Drugs.com. Last updated on Jun 27, 2023.

Applies to the following strengths: 50 mg; 25 mg

Usual Adult Dose for Wilson's Disease

50 mg orally 3 times a day

Comments:

Use is not recommended for initial treatment of symptomatic patients because of its slow onset of action (by zinc-induced increase in metallothionein and copper uptake blockade).
Use chelating agents for initial treatment.
When patient is clinically stable, treatment with zinc acetate can begin; continue chelation therapy as clinically indicated.

Use: Maintenance treatment of Wilson's disease initially treated with a chelating agent

Usual Pediatric Dose for Zinc Deficiency

US Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of elemental zinc:
0 to 6 months: 2 mg (adequate intake)
7 to 12 months: 3 mg
1 to 3 years: 3 mg
4 to 8 years: 4 mg
9 to 13 years: 8 mg
14 to 18 years:

Male: 11 mg
Female: 9 mg
Pregnancy: 12 mg
Lactation: 13 mg

Usual Pediatric Dose for Wilson's Disease

10 years and older:
Usual dose: 25 mg orally 3 times a day

May increase to 50 mg 3 times a day if monitoring indicates lessening of control

Comments:

Use is not recommended for initial treatment of symptomatic patients because of its slow onset of action (by zinc-induced increase in metallothionein and copper uptake blockade).
Use chelating agents for initial treatment.
When patient is clinically stable, treatment with zinc acetate can begin; continue chelation therapy as clinically indicated.

Use: Maintenance treatment of Wilson's disease initially treated with a chelating agent

Renal Dose Adjustments

Data not available

Liver Dose Adjustments

Data not available

Dose Adjustments

Pregnant women: 25 mg 3 times a day, if patient is compliant with therapy

May increase to 50 mg 3 times a day if monitoring indicates lessening of control

Precautions

CONTRAINDICATIONS:

Hypersensitivity to any of the ingredients

Safety and efficacy have not been established in patients younger than 10 years.

Consult WARNINGS section for additional precautions.

Dialysis

Data not available

Other Comments

Administration advice:

Take on an empty stomach, 1 hour before or 3 hours after meals, as food and beverages (other than water) decrease zinc uptake.
Swallow capsules whole; do not open or chew
Rare gastric intolerance (usually with the morning dose) can be dealt with by taking the dose between breakfast and lunch.

Monitoring:

Monitor using 24-hour urine and symptomatic assessment; can also use to measure compliance.
Use non-copper collection equipment for urine and blood sampling; use equipment that can detect copper levels as low as 0.01 microgram/mL.
Where available, radioactivity can be measured 1 to 2 hours after 64copper administration; levels under 1.2% of the given dose indicate adequate control.
Do not use hepatic copper levels to manage therapy; potentially toxic free copper and safely bound copper are not differentiated.
Urinary copper accurately reflects body copper status in patients not on chelation.
Chelation therapy (e.g. penicillamine, trientine) usually increases urinary copper.
Adequate therapy eventually decreases urinary copper to 126 microgram/24 hours or less.
Significant upward trends in urinary copper signals loss of copper control.
Non-ceruloplasmin copper was kept under 20 micrograms/dL in the US study.
Conduct neurological evaluations (including speech) and liver function tests (including bilirubin and aminotransferases) as needed.
Obtain non-ceruloplasmin copper (free copper) by subtracting ceruloplasmin-bound copper from total plasma copper.
There are 3 micrograms of copper in each milligram of ceruloplasmin.