Lack of association between vitamin A status and measures of conjunctival epithelial integrity in young children in northern Ghana
Filteau, S.M.; Morris, S.S.; Tomkins, A.M.; Arthur, P.; Kirkwood, B.R.; Ross, D.A.; Abbott, R.A.; Gyapong, J.O.
European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 48(9): 669-677
1994
ISSN/ISBN: 0954-3007 PMID: 8001524 Document Number: 433118
Objective: To investigate the association between vitamin A status and conjunctival epithelial function in young children in rural northern Ghana and to consider whether impaired epithelial function was associated with increased measures of systemic infection in these children. Design: Children were selected from the Ghana Vitamin A Supplementation Trials' Child Health Study, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of the effect of vitamin A supplementation on morbidity. Treatment group and serum retinol concentrations were used as measures of vitamin A status, conjunctival impression cytology and tear IgA concentrations as measures of conjunctival epithelial integrity, and serum immunoglobulin and alpha-1-acid glycoprotein concentrations as indicators of chronic or acute systemic infection. Subjects: Children 13-64 months old. Intervention: 60 mg retinol as retinyl palmitate every 4 months for 1 year. Results: Vitamin A status was not significantly associated with epithelial integrity nor with measures of systemic infection. Impaired conjunctival epithelial integrity was also not associated with increased systemic infection. Conclusions: There was no evidence for a major role of improved epithelial integrity and function on the biochemical indices of chronic or acute systemic infection after vitamin A supplementation. These data support the observations in the main study that vitamin A supplementation did not improve conjunctival impression cytology nor decrease the prevalence of most morbidity symptoms.