Loaiza-Giraldo, Jessica PaolaAmigo-Fierro, FlorenciaCancino-Castro, Camila IgnaciaDonoso-Emig, MatiasSatea, MurtajaFarías-Quinteros, IgnaciaBruna-Mejias, AlejandroNova-Baeza, PabloOrellana-Donoso, MathiasGutiérrez-Espinoza, HéctorCifuentes-Suazo, GloriaSanchis-Gimeno, JuanPiagkou, MariaValenti, Vitor E.Leon-Rojas, Jose E.Valenzuela-Fuenzalida, Juan José2026-09-162026-09-162026-06-05Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism, Vol. 9, N° 5 (2026) pp. 1-222398-9238https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12254/7741Objectives: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic metabolic disorder characterized by insulin resistance, impaired insulin secretion, and increased cardiometabolic and inflammatory burden. Zinc plays a key biological role in insulin synthesis, storage, signalling and antioxidant defence; however, the clinical relevance and consistency of zinc supplementation effects in diabetes remain uncertain. Methods: A systematic search of PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science, Scopus, CINAHL and Google Scholar was conducted to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing zinc supplementation in individuals with diabetes, gestational diabetes or prediabetes. Results: Eighteen RCTs involving 1023 participants met the eligibility criteria. Zinc supplementation significantly increased plasma zinc concentrations (MD = 7.80; 95% CI 4.33 to 11.26) and improved insulin resistance, as reflected by reductions in serum insulin (MD = -2.50; 95% CI -4.69 to -0.31) and HOMA-IR (MD = -1.10; 95% CI -2.05 to -0.15). Total cholesterol decreased modestly but significantly (MD = -5.70; 95% CI -7.50 to -3.89), representing a relatively small absolute reduction, while LDL cholesterol showed a modest increase (MD = 3.46; 95% CI 1.48 to 5.43), although the clinical relevance of this finding remains uncertain. Inflammatory and oxidative stress markers improved, including reductions in C-reactive protein (SMD = -0.91; 95% CI -1.43 to -0.38) and malondialdehyde (SMD = -0.76; 95% CI -1.34 to -0.18), alongside an increase in total antioxidant capacity (SMD = 1.79; 95% CI 0.68 to 2.91). Conclusions: Zinc supplementation was associated with improvements in insulin resistance, inflammatory status and oxidative stress markers in individuals with diabetes.enAtribución-NoComercial-CompartirIgual 3.0 Chile (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 CL)diabetes mellitusinflammationinsulin resistanceoxidative stressrandomized controlled trialstype 2 diabeteszinc supplementationArticlehttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1781-062Xhttps://doi.org/10.1002/edm2.70264