Serum vitamin A concentrations in asthmatic children in Japan.
BACKGROUND
Vitamin A is an essential micronutrient with important roles in immunity and maintenance of normal epithelial cell differentiation. Little information is available regarding the relationship between vitamin A concentrations and asthma despite the repair of epithelial and other structural changes being of utmost importance for the relief of symptoms and control of the disease. The authors evaluated vitamin A and vitamin E concentrations in well-nourished children with asthma.


METHODS
The serum vitamin A and vitamin E concentrations were measured by high performance liquid chromatography methods. Statistical analysis was performed using the Mann-Whitney U-test and Peason's correlation coefficient test.


RESULTS
According to these methods, the mean serum vitamin A concentrations were significantly lower (19.41+/-7.45 microg/dL, mean+/-SD) in asthmatic children than controls (29.52+/-11.34 microg/dL, P=0.0001). To compare the correlation of C-reactive protein and serum vitamin A concentrations, there was also significant difference between the two groups.


CONCLUSIONS
The data suggest that there is a correlation between vitamin A deficiency and the mechanism of asthmatic response. These data support that the mechanism of hypovitaminosis A in asthmatic children may involve not only the acute phase response but also the various degrees of chronic epitherial damage of airways.
Mizuno
Yasutaka
Y
Department of Pediatrics, Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan. mizuno@jikei.ac.jp
Furusho
Tadasu
T
Yoshida
Ai
A
Nakamura
Hironori
H
Matsuura
Tomokazu
T
Eto
Yoshikatsu
Y
D001249:Asthma / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000097:blood*; D014810:Vitamin E / Q000097:blood*
D014801:Vitamin A; D014810:Vitamin E