INCT-Institute of Biomedicine, Clinical Research Unit, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil.
J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 2010 Mar;50(3):309-15. doi: 10.1097/MPG.0b013e3181a96489.
This study evaluates the effects of retinol on intestinal barrier function, growth, total parasites, and Giardia spp infections in children in northeastern Brazil.
The study was a double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial (http://clinicaltrials.gov; register no. #NCT00133406) involving 79 children who received vitamin A 100,000-200,000 IU (n = 39) or placebo (n = 40) at enrollment, 4, and 8 months and were followed for 36 months. Intestinal barrier function was evaluated using the lactulose:mannitol ratio test. Stool lactoferrin was used as a marker for intestinal inflammation.
The groups were similar with regard to age, sex, nutritional parameters (z scores), serum retinol concentrations, proportion of lactoferrin-positive stool samples, and intestinal barrier function. The lactulose:mannitol ratio did not change during the same time of follow-up (P > 0.05). The proportion of lactoferrin-positive samples evaluated at 1 month did not change between groups (P > 0.05). Total intestinal parasitic, specifically new, infections were significantly lower in the vitamin A treatment compared with control group; these were accounted for entirely by significantly fewer new Giardia infections in the vitamin A treatment group. The cumulative z scores for weight-for-length or height, length or height-for-age z scores, and weight-for-age did not change significantly with vitamin A intervention for 36 months of follow-up.
These data showed that total parasitic infection and Giardia spp infections were significantly lower in the vitamin A treatment group when compared with the placebo group, suggesting that vitamin A improves the host's defenses against Giardia infections.
本研究评估了视黄醇对巴西东北部儿童肠道屏障功能、生长、总寄生虫和贾第鞭毛虫感染的影响。
这是一项双盲、随机、安慰剂对照试验（http://clinicaltrials.gov；注册号 #NCT00133406），涉及 79 名儿童，他们在入组时、第 4 个月和第 8 个月分别接受了 100,000-200,000 IU 维生素 A（n = 39）或安慰剂（n = 40），并随访 36 个月。肠道屏障功能通过乳果糖：甘露醇比值试验进行评估。粪便乳铁蛋白用作肠道炎症的标志物。
两组在年龄、性别、营养参数（z 评分）、血清视黄醇浓度、粪便乳铁蛋白阳性样本比例和肠道屏障功能方面相似。在相同的随访时间内，乳果糖：甘露醇比值没有变化（P > 0.05）。在 1 个月时评估的粪便乳铁蛋白阳性样本比例在两组之间没有变化（P > 0.05）。与对照组相比，维生素 A 治疗组的总肠道寄生虫感染，特别是新的寄生虫感染明显较低；这些完全归因于维生素 A 治疗组新的贾第鞭毛虫感染明显减少。在 36 个月的随访中，维生素 A 干预对体重-身长或身高、身长-年龄 z 评分、体重-年龄的累积 z 评分没有显著变化。
这些数据表明，与安慰剂组相比，维生素 A 治疗组的总寄生虫感染和贾第鞭毛虫感染明显较低，表明维生素 A 改善了宿主对贾第鞭毛虫感染的防御能力。
