[Serum retinol in urban Mexican women during the perinatal period].
OBJECTIVE
To establish the prevalence of vitamin A deficiency during pregnancy and lactation in a group of urban Mexican women.


METHODS
A group of pregnant women who attended a prenatal care program were invited to participate. Subjects had no added pathologies and were less than 20 weeks pregnant. Evaluations were performed 3 times during pregnancy until 24 weeks post-partum. Vitamin A levels were determined in serum by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The cut-off point to consider retinol deficiency was < 1.05 mumol/L.


RESULTS
During the 3 gestational evaluations, vitamin A levels were 2.34 +/- 0.70, 2.41 +/- 1.03 and 1.86 +/- 0.66 mumol/L, respectively, which shows a significant decrease. However, only 1/30 was situated below the accepted cut-off point to consider risk of deficiency, and none for deficiency. During post-partum, concentrations remained relatively constant, approximately 2.10 mumol/L. Lactation had no impact on serum retinol levels, while weight loss did.


CONCLUSIONS
No cases of vitamin A deficiency were found in the studied population during the perinatal period. Maternal weight loss affects post-partum retinol levels.
Casanueva
E
E
Departamento de Investigación en Nutrición, Instituto Nacional de Perinatología (INPer), México, D.F. casanuev@servidor.unam.mx
Valdés-Ramos
R
R
Pfeffer
F
F
Ricalde-Moreno
A
A
García-Villegas
E
E
Meza
C
C
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008800:Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D049590:Postpartum Period / Q000097:blood*; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000097:blood*; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011644:Puerperal Disorders / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology; D013997:Time Factors; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000097:blood*; D014802:Vitamin A Deficiency / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology
D014801:Vitamin A