Evaluation of Essential Micronutrients in Patients with Tropical Diseases

Tropical diseases (TDs) remain a major public health burden in endemic regions, where malnutrition frequently coexists with infection. This review summarizes the role of micronutrients in tropical diseases (TD) and evaluates strategies to assess micronutrient status under inflammatory conditions. Vitamins A, B-complex, and D as well as iron, zinc, and selenium, are important for immune regulation, oxidative stress control, and host- pathogen interactions in diseases such as malaria, dengue, leishmaniasis, and Chagas diseases. However, inflammation and acute phase responses distort conventional biomarkers, limiting their diagnostic accuracy, therefore inflammation- adjusted biomarkers, clinical, and dietary approaches improve assessment reliability. The evaluation of micronutrient status in patients with tropical diseases requires approaches that consider inflammation as well as the setting of the disease. The integration of optimized micronutrient assessment methods into clinical practice allows an individualized nutritional intervention and better clinical outcomes in tropical infections.