Physiological tests during an improvement in riboflavin status in lactating Gambian women
Bates, C.J.; Prentice, A.M.; Prentice, A.; Sharkey, K.A.; Murphy, P.K.; Villard, L.
International Journal for Vitamin and Nutrition Research. Internationale Zeitschrift für Vitamin- und Ernahrungsforschung. Journal International de Vitaminologie et de Nutrition 52(1): 14-23
1982
ISSN/ISBN: 0300-9831 PMID: 7085195 Document Number: 196521
During several weeks riboflavin supplementation of lactating African women, which reduced their mean activation coefficient of erythrocyte glutathione reductase (EGRAC) from 1.65 to 1.21 and initiated an improvement in clinical deficiency signs, measurements were made of physiological functions which may be connected with riboflavin status. No specific response to the supplement could be detected in body weight, grip strength, haematological parameters, osmotic fragility and resistance to oxidative stress of erythrocytes, plasma iron levels and related indices, or plasma hormone levels. There was a cross-sectional relationship between erythrocyte distribution on Percoll density gradients and EGRAC before supplementation, and between the Percoll pattern and total haemoglobin concentration. It is not yet known, however, whether a direct causal relationship exists between these variables.