Serum vitamin A in children with persistent diarrhea

ABSTRACT

To explore the relationship between vitamin A status and persistent diarrhea, the present study was carried out on 25 cases with persistent diarrhea and 10 age and sex matched controls, chosen from the gastroenteritis clinic C.U.P.H. over a period of 6 months. They included 20 males and 15 females, ages ranged from 2 months to 3 years. Full clinical examination was performed. Laboratory investigations included stool analysis and culture, and estimation of serum vitamin A by high performance liquid chromatography [HPLC]. 17/25 cases [68%] showed low serum vitamin A, in 11/25 cases [44%] serum vitamin A was <0.2 mg/L, while in 6/25 cases [24%] serum vitamin A was <0.1 mg/L. The mean serum vitamin A for cases [0.18 +/- 0.09] was lower than controls [0.35 +/- 0.10] with a statistically significant difference [P <0.01]. No correlation was observed between serum vitamin A and age, sex, weight or feeding pattern of patients. The only significant correlation was observed between serum vitamin A and diarrheal duration. The longer the duration of diarrhea, the lower is the serum vitamin A [r = -0.566 P <0.05]