Khan I, Baseer A
Department of Biochemistry, Dow Medical College, Karachi.
J Pak Med Assoc. 1996 Feb;46(2):34-8.
To assess the prevalence of vitamin A deficiency in anemic Pakistani children and investigate the hematologic response to vitamin A supplementation, 4-8 year old primary school children from the slum areas of Karachi were surveyed for anemia. Of 101 anemic children selected, 16% had low level of vitamin A ( < 20 micrograms/dl) and an additional 2% had deficient level ( < 10 micrograms/dl). Serum Retinol level showed positive associated with serum iron, ferritin, hemoglobin, hematocrit and Mean cell hemoglobin concentration. A non-randomized control trial was then carried out. Oral vitamin A capsules were given to 42 children and 53 children served as controls. After 6 weeks, there were significant differences between the two groups for Retinol, Retinol-Binding-Protein and Hematocrit. However, no significant difference could be found for Hemoglobin, RBC count, Mean Corpuscular Volume, Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin, Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin Concentration, Serum iron, ferritin or transferrin. A single vitamin A supplement improved the hematocrit in 6 weeks. Long-term studies are needed to find if the WHO recommended periodic massive doses of vitamin A besides improving the morbidity and mortality will also improve the overall picture of anemia in children.
为评估贫血的巴基斯坦儿童维生素A缺乏症的患病率，并研究补充维生素A后的血液学反应，对来自卡拉奇贫民窟地区的4至8岁小学生进行了贫血调查。在选取的101名贫血儿童中，16%的儿童维生素A水平较低（<20微克/分升），另有2%的儿童维生素A水平缺乏（<10微克/分升）。血清视黄醇水平与血清铁、铁蛋白、血红蛋白、血细胞比容和平均红细胞血红蛋白浓度呈正相关。随后进行了一项非随机对照试验。42名儿童口服维生素A胶囊，53名儿童作为对照。6周后，两组在视黄醇、视黄醇结合蛋白和血细胞比容方面存在显著差异。然而，在血红蛋白、红细胞计数、平均红细胞体积、平均红细胞血红蛋白、平均红细胞血红蛋白浓度、血清铁、铁蛋白或转铁蛋白方面未发现显著差异。单次补充维生素A可在6周内改善血细胞比容。需要进行长期研究，以确定世界卫生组织建议的定期大剂量补充维生素A除了改善发病率和死亡率外，是否还能改善儿童贫血的总体状况。
