Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia.
BMC Public Health. 2011 Jul 15;11:569. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-11-569.
Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is known to be a major public health problem among women of reproductive age in South East Asia and Africa. In Ethiopia, there are no studies conducted on serum vitamin A status of HIV-infected pregnant women. Therefore, the present study was aimed at determining the level of serum vitamin A and VAD among pregnant women with and without HIV infection in tropical settings of Northwest Ethiopia.
In this cross-sectional study, blood samples were collected from 423 pregnant women and from 55 healthy volunteers who visited the University of Gondar Hospital. Serum concentration of vitamin A was measured by high performance liquid chromatography.
After controlling for total serum protein, albumin and demographic variables, the mean ± SD serum vitamin A in HIV seropositive pregnant women (0.96 ± 0.42 μmol/L) was significantly lower than that in pregnant women without HIV infection (1.10 ± 0.45 μmol/L, P < 0.05). Likewise, the level of serum vitamin A in HIV seropositive non-pregnant women (0.74 ± 0.39) was significantly lower than that in HIV negative non-pregnant women (1.18 ± 0.59 μmol/L, P < 0.004). VAD (serum retinol < 0.7 μmol/L) was observed in 18.4% and 17.7% of HIV infected and uninfected pregnant women, respectively. Forty six percent of non-pregnant women with HIV infection had VAD while only 28% controls were deficient for vitamin A (P = 0.002).
The present study shows that VAD is a major public health problem among pregnant women in the tropical settings of Northwest Ethiopia. Considering the possible implications of VAD during pregnancy, we recommend multivitamin (which has a lower level of vitamin A) supplementation in the care and management of pregnant women with or without HIV infection.
维生素 A 缺乏症(VAD)是东南亚和非洲育龄妇女的主要公共卫生问题。在埃塞俄比亚,尚未对感染艾滋病毒的孕妇的血清维生素 A 状况进行研究。因此,本研究旨在确定在埃塞俄比亚西北部热带地区感染艾滋病毒的孕妇和未感染艾滋病毒的孕妇的血清维生素 A 水平和 VAD 情况。
在这项横断面研究中,采集了 423 名孕妇和 55 名健康志愿者的血样。采用高效液相色谱法测量血清维生素 A 浓度。
在控制总血清蛋白、白蛋白和人口统计学变量后,HIV 血清阳性孕妇(0.96 ± 0.42 μmol/L)的平均 ± SD 血清维生素 A 显著低于未感染 HIV 的孕妇(1.10 ± 0.45 μmol/L,P < 0.05)。同样,HIV 血清阳性非孕妇(0.74 ± 0.39)的血清维生素 A 水平也显著低于 HIV 阴性非孕妇(1.18 ± 0.59 μmol/L,P < 0.004)。观察到 18.4%和 17.7%的感染和未感染 HIV 的孕妇存在 VAD。46%的感染 HIV 的非孕妇存在 VAD,而仅 28%的对照者缺乏维生素 A(P = 0.002)。
本研究表明,VAD 是埃塞俄比亚西北部热带地区孕妇面临的一个主要公共卫生问题。考虑到 VAD 在怀孕期间的可能影响,我们建议在护理和管理感染和未感染 HIV 的孕妇时补充多种维生素(维生素 A 含量较低)。