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IMR Press / IJVNR / Volume 80 / Issue 3 / DOI: 10.1024/0300-9831/a000017

International Journal for Vitamin and Nutrition Research (IJVNR) is published by IMR Press from Volume 95 Issue 1 (2025). Previous articles were published by another publisher under a hybrid publishing model, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Hogrefe.

Original Communication

The Impact of Vitamin A Supplementation on the Immune System of Vitamin A-deficient Children

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Affiliation
1 Department of Nutrition, Federal University of Teresina, Piaui, Brazil
2 Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil
3 Adolfo Lutz Inst, Immunol Sect, Sao Paulo, Brazil
4 erology, and Medical Biology of Adolfo Lutz Institute, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazi
5 Department of Nutrition, Federal University of Piaui, Teresina, Piauí, Brazil
6 Faculty of Medicine, Federal University of Campina Grande, Campina Grande, Paraiba, Brazil
Int. J. Vitam. Nutr. Res. 2010, 80(3), 188–196; https://doi.org/10.1024/0300-9831/a000017
Published: 7 January 2013
Abstract

Background & Aims: To investigate the effect of vitamin A supplementation on parameters of the immune system of vitamin A-deficient children. Methods: The study was carried out in four phases: 1) determination of serum retinol in 631 children from 36 to 83 months of age; 2) assessment of immunological markers [immunoglobulins and complement fractions, immunophenotyping of T and B lymphocytes, and natural killer (NK) cells], blood count, and serum ferritin of 52 vitamin A-deficient children (serum retinol < 0.70 µmol/L); 3) supplementation of the 52 deficient children with 200,000 IU of vitamin A; 4) determination of serum retinol and the immunological parameters 2 months after vitamin A supplementation. Results: Before vitamin A supplementation, 24.0 % of the children were anemic and 4.3 %had reduced ferritin concentrations. There was no significant difference between mean values of retinol according to the presence/absence of anemia. The mean values of the humoral and cellular immunological parameters did not show a statistically significant difference before and after supplementation with vitamin A. Children with concomitant hypovitaminosis A and anemia presented a significant increase in absolute CD4 and CD8 T-cell counts after vitamin A supplementation (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Vitamin A had an effect on the recruitment of T and B lymphocytes to the circulation of children with hypovitaminosis A and anemia.

Keywords
Vitamin A
ferritin
anemia
immunity
preschool children
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