Serum vitamin A status in acute lymphocytic leukemia of childhood.

Serum vitamin A status was assessed at the diagnosis in 31 children with common acute lymphocytic leukemia (CALL) and seven with T-cell leukemia (T-ALL). A control population consisting of 22 children was established to serve as one basis for comparison. Mean concentrations of vitamin A, retinol-binding protein (RBP) and prealbumin (PA) were significantly less (p less than 0.01) in the sera of patients with T-ALL when compared with the controls. Similarly, mean RBP and PA levels were reduced (p less than 0.01) in the sera of patients with CALL. In addition, "euretinolemic" and "hyporetinolemic" subgroups of CALL were identified comprising 74.2 percent and 25.8 percent of the patient population, respectively. The latter differed from the euretinolemic patients by being younger and showing an even greater decrease in the serum concentrations of RBP and PA. These findings indicate that there are factors affecting carrier proteins of vitamin A in childhood T-cell and common ALL; also, the data provide further evidence of the heterogeneity of common acute lymphocytic leukemia of childhood.