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The patient-specific change in the duration of the botulinum toxin effect (irrespective of the individual brand used) was compared. When given ZYTAZE a 23.6% change in the duration of action was observed which surprised the researchers, who as yet are unsure of exactly the precise method of action of the zinc supplementation.
They concluded that this study suggests that using ZYTAZE may lead to fewer botulinum toxin injections at a lower dose and with less treatment-to-treatment variability in effect.
They presented the study at the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery’s 41st Annual Fall Scientific Symposium in October 2010 in Chicago.
ZYTAZE became commercially available in the USA in November 2010 and is marketed as a prescription only treatment to eliminate the potential for patient abuse and resulting zinc toxicity. It is packaged in a blister pack of ten capsules (2 per day to give the 50mg zinc citrate/3,000mg phytase dose over 4 days prior to botulinum toxin treatment).
The study carried out by Dr. Soparkar is currently under review, pending publication in a medical journal but it certainly causing interest amongst physicians who view this as a very interesting finding. As Dr. Soparkar himself admits, larger, multi-centre studies will need to be carried out with more advanced protocols in order to truly assess the increased effect this supplement has on the effect and duration of botulinum toxin treatments for a variety of indications and whether it can indeed lead to lower doses and less frequent re-treatment.
*Effect of Dietary Zinc Supplementation on Botulinum Toxin Treatments Koshy JC, Sharabi SE, Feldman EM, Hollier LM, Hollier LH, Patrinely JR, Soparkar CNS. (Manuscript currently in review)