Breast Milk Retinol Is Negatively Associated With General Parameters of Obesity in Lactating Women

Objectives To evaluate the correlation between breast milk retinol concentration and general parameters of obesity in lactating women. Methods This is a cross-sectional study design. Participants were 21 lactating women between 54.2 ± 2.35 d postpartum, and who declared exclusive or predominant breastfeeding practices. A casual sample of breast milk (∼3 mL) was collected and breast milk retinol was analyzed by HPLC. General anthropometric measurements (weight, height, waist and hip circumference) were performed. The Spearman test was used to assess the correlation between the variables. Results Participating lactating women were 19–34 y of age. Breast milk retinol concentration was 1.84 ± 0.84 µmol/L; 38.1% (n = 8) of lactating women had low breast milk concentration of vitamin A (< 1.05 µmol/L). Body Mass Index (BMI) was 26.7 ± 4.32; 33.3% of the women had a normal BMI, 52.4% were overweight and 14.3% were obese. Waist (83.2 ± 8.81 cm) and hip circumference (104 ± 9.35 cm), were also recorded. BMI (r = −0.551, p = 0.010), waist (r = −0.480, p = 0.028) and hip circumference (r = −0.484, p = 0.030) negatively correlated with retinol concentrations in breast milk. Conclusions In this group of women, breast milk retinol concentration was lower in women with higher BMI, waist and hip circumference. Funding Sources JA-P received a fellowship from the Mexican National Research and Technology Council.

Daily Oral Low-Dose Vitamin A Supplementation Increases the Retinol Levels in Serum and Breast Milk of Lactating Mothers and Has No Effect on Infant Health Status: A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial in China

Background: Vitamin A supplementation has been advocated as a potential strategy to improve the vitamin A status of lactating mothers and infants. In China, vitamin A supplements are readily available in the form of daily oral low doses. However, the existing clinical trials are limited to single or two high-dose maternal administration.Objective: We aimed to evaluate the effects of the daily oral low-dose vitamin A supplementation on the retinol levels in serum and breast milk of lactating mothers and the health status of infants in China.Methods: Lactating mothers who met the inclusion criteria and planned to continue exclusive breast-feeding were randomly assigned to receive either daily oral vitamin A and D drops (one soft capsule of 1800IU vitamin A and 600IU vitamin D2), or a matching placebo for 2 months. Before and after the intervention, the dietary intake was investigated by instant photography, and the retinol concentration in maternal serum and breast milk was determined by UPLC. During the trial, the health status of infants was diagnosed by pediatrician or reported by lactating mothers.Results: 245 participants completed the study with 117 in supplementation group and 128 in control group. After the 2-month intervention, maternal serum retinol concentration increased in supplementation group with no change in control group. Although breast milk retinol concentrations decreased significantly in both groups, the decrease in supplementation group was significantly less than that in the control group. However, maternal vitamin A supplementation was not associated with lower risks of infant febrile illness, respiratory tract infection, diarrhea and eczema respectively. Conclusion: Daily oral low-dose vitamin A supplementation is helpful to improve the maternal vitamin A status and can also play a positive role in vitamin A status of infants through breast milk.

Effect of Maternal Retinol Status at Time of Term Delivery on Retinol Placental Concentration, Intrauterine Transfer Rate, and Newborn Retinol Status

Retinol (vitamin A) is essential, so the objective of this Institutional Review Board approved study is to evaluate retinol placental concentration, intrauterine transfer, and neonatal status at time of term delivery between cases of maternal retinol adequacy, insufficiency, and deficiency in a United States population. Birth information and biological samples were collected for mother–infant dyads (n = 260). Maternal and umbilical cord blood retinol concentrations (n = 260) were analyzed by HPLC and categorized: deficient (≤0.7 umol/L), insufficient (>0.7–1.05 umol/L), adequate (>1.05 umol/L). Intrauterine transfer rate was calculated: (umbilical cord blood retinol concentration/maternal retinol concentration) × 100. Non-parametric statistics used include Spearman’s correlations, Mann–Whitney U, and Kruskal–Wallis tests. p-values <0.05 were statistically significant. Only 51.2% of mothers were retinol adequate, with 38.4% insufficient, 10.4% deficient. Only 1.5% of infants were retinol adequate. Placental concentrations (n = 73) differed between adequate vs. deficient mothers (median 0.13 vs. 0.10 μg/g; p = 0.003). Umbilical cord blood concentrations were similar between deficient, insufficient, and adequate mothers (0.61 vs. 0.55 vs. 0.57 μmol/L; p = 0.35). Intrauterine transfer increased with maternal deficiency (103.4%) and insufficiency (61.2%) compared to adequacy (43.1%), p < 0.0001. Results indicate that intrauterine transfer rate is augmented in cases of maternal retinol inadequacy, leading to similar concentrations in umbilical cord blood at term delivery.

Vitamin A Status in Neonatal and Weanling Rats Reared by Mothers Consuming Normal and High Fat Diets with or Without Vitamin A Supplementation

Objectives Although the circulating level of vitamin A (VA) is reported to be significantly lower in obese adults, it is unknown if maternal adiposity would influence the VA status of the offspring. The aim of this study was to investigate the status and distribution of VA in the offspring of rats consuming a normal fat diet (NFD) or a high fat diet (HFD), with or without VA supplementation. Methods Sprague-Dawley rats arrived on their second day of gestation and were randomized to either a NFD (25% fat) or a HFD (50% fat) both with an adequate level of VA at 2.6 mg/kg. Upon the delivery of pups, half of rat mothers from the NFD or HFD cohort were switched to a NFD or a HFD both with supplemented VA at 129 mg/kg (NFD + VA and HFD + VA group), respectively. The other half remained on their diets with adequate VA (NFD and HFD group). At postnatal day 14 (P14) and P25, 4 pups/group were euthanized. At P25, the remaining weanling pups (n = 3/group) were fed diets of their respective mothers until being euthanized at P35. Concentrations of total retinol in serum, liver, visceral white AT (WAT), and brown AT (BAT) were measured by UPLC. Results Through the study, pups in non-supplemented groups showed a normal serum retinol concentration but a marginal liver VA status. At all the time points, serum retinol concentration was significantly (P &lt; 0.05) increased in VA-supplemented groups as compared to non-supplemented ones; no significant difference was noted between the NFD and the HFD group. At P14, serum retinol concentration was significantly lower in the HFD + VA group than in the NFD + VA group. In liver, WAT, and BAT, both the concentration and the mass of total retinol was significantly higher in HFD + VA and NFD + VA group than in their respective control at all the time points, with no significant difference noted between the two control groups. At P25, both the concentration and the mass of total retinol in liver and in WAT was significantly higher in HFD + VA than in NFD + VA group. Conclusions Maternal VA supplementation added to both NFD and HFD raised VA status of the offspring. A lower VA concentration in serum but higher concentration in liver and WAT was observed in the HFD + VA group as compared to the NFD + VA group at given time points, indicating that maternal HFD consumption potentially compromised the availability of functional VA in circulation by increasing its deposition in storage organs. Funding Sources NIH.

A Novel LC-MS/MS Method for Improving Long-Term Stability of Retinol in Dried Blood Spots and Quantification of Its Levels

Objectives To establish an accurate and reliable method for stabilizing vitamin A (retinol) in Dried blood spots (DBS), quantifying and comparing DBS retinol concentrations with their equivalent plasma retinol levels. Methods Antioxidants pretreated on paper combined with vacuum treatment were used to increase retinol stability on DBS. A surrogate matrix of whole blood prepared using mixture of human erythrocytes and 2% BSA in PBS was firstly used in DBS retinol determination based on the fact that retinol is excluded from erythrocytes. Results DBS retinol was stable during 120 min of air drying and 30 days of room-temperature storage. The method was linear in the concentration range of 0.04–300 μg/mL. Accuracy was calibrated using two National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) calibrants generated serum at concentrations of 0.1962 and 0.3948 g/mL, relative errors (RE% values) of 0.07% and 4.95% were found, respectively. Both the between-run (n = 5) and within-run (n = 6) precision (relative standard deviations, RSD%) were below 8.42%. The spiked recoveries at 3 concentrations ranged from 86.48% to 98.13%. A reliable calibration model was first developed to convert DBS retinol concentration to the equivalent plasma retinol concentration. Conclusions The validated method can be applied to the nutritional assessment of vitamin A, using the established calibration model, DBS retinol can compare with clinical reference ranges and with studies using serum or plasma samples. Funding Sources The National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFC1002503); The National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 81,400,848, 81,701,441); The CAMS Initiative for Innovative Medicine (2016-I2M-1–008); The Beijing municipal program of medical research (Grant No. 2016–04); The National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2016YFC1306204).

Egg yolk colour and retinol concentration of eggs from laying hens fed diets containing carrot and beetroot meal

Compounds such as pigments, antioxidants, and pro-vitamins A are found in carrots and beetroots and could increase the nutritional value of eggs when added to diets for laying hens. This research evaluated retinol concentrations and egg yolk colour with addition of freeze-dried carrot (Daucus carota L.) and beetroot (Beta vulgaris L.) meal in the diets of 240 Hisex Brown laying hens. The hens were distributed in a completely randomized design in five groups according to five experimental diets: (1) maize and soybean meal; (2) sorghum and soybean meal; (3) sorghum and soybean meal plus 0.8% of freeze-dried carrot meal; (4) sorghum and soybean meal plus 0.8% of freeze-dried beetroot meal; (5) sorghum and soybean meal plus 0.4% of freeze-dried carrot meal and 0.4% freeze-dried beetroot meal. The diet containing maize and soybean meal resulted in a more intense egg yolk colour and higher retinol levels in comparison to other diets (P &lt; 0.05). However, carrot meal increased egg yolk colour and beetroot meal increased egg yolk retinol concentration in comparison to sorghum and soybean meal diets (P &lt; 0.05). The inclusion of 0.8% of the carrot and beetroot meal in the diet is not enough to reach the intensity of yolk colour and yolk retinol concentration obtained through the diet containing maize, however, it increases retinol level and yolk colour in comparison to the diet containing sorghum without carrot and beetroot meal.