PREDICTORS OF SUB-CLINICAL VITAMIN A DEFICIENCY IN SENEGALESE 6 MONTHS LACTATING WOMEN

• Published in: Annals of nutrition and metabolism 2017-10, Vol.71 (Suppl. 2), p.1064
• Main Authors: Idohou-Dossou, Nicole, Agne-Djigo, Anta, Diouf, Adama, Wade, Salimata
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Breast milk; Breastfeeding & lactation; C-reactive protein; Diet; Dietary intake; Glycoproteins; High-performance liquid chromatography; Indicators; Inflammation; Liquid chromatography; Milk; Nutrient deficiency; Proteins; Suburbs; Turbidimetry; Vitamin A; Womens health
• ISSN: 0250-6807; 1421-9697
• DOI: 10.1159/000480486

Background and objectives: Plasma retinol (PR) and breast milk retinol (BMR) were indicators recommended by WHO for assessing vitamin A status of lactating women at subclinical level. PR is homeostatically controlled, and was usually affected by infections/inflammation. BMR may reflect recent dietary intake but it is currently unknown if the level was influenced by systemic infections. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the performance of BMR and PR to detect vitamin A deficiency (VAD) among the Senegalese lactating women, and the relationship between BMR and their inflammatory status. Methods: An experimental study was undertaken in 184 nonpregnant lactating women at 6 months post-partum, randomly selected in suburbs of Dakar (Senegal). The indicators measured were: plasma, casual and full breast milk retinol concentrations by HPLC, fat content of fresh milk by creamatocrit, plasma C-reactive protein (CRP) and alpha 1-acid-glycoprotein (AGP) by immuno-turbidimetry. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis was used to compare the performance of BMR (expressed as μmol/L and μg/g fat) and PR to predict VAD among the Senegalese lactating women. Results: PR detected 3.3% of VAD among the women. BMR, expressed by μmol/L (≤1.05 μmol/L) in casual and full milk, detected 22.7% and 21.6% of VAD, respectively. When expressed by μg/g fat, the prevalence of VAD (BMR