Approaches to Assess Vitamin A Status in Settings of Inflammation: Biomarkers Reflecting Inflammation and Nutritional Determinants of Anemia (BRINDA) Project
Leila M. Larson 1,*,†
, Junjie Guo 2,†, Anne M. Williams 3, Melissa F. Young 2, Sanober Ismaily 2, O Yaw Addo 2, David Thurnham 4, Sherry A. Tanumihardjo 5, Parminder S. Suchdev 6,7 and Christine A. Northrop-Clewes 8
, Junjie Guo 2,†, Anne M. Williams 3, Melissa F. Young 2, Sanober Ismaily 2, O Yaw Addo 2, David Thurnham 4, Sherry A. Tanumihardjo 5, Parminder S. Suchdev 6,7 and Christine A. Northrop-Clewes 8
1
Department of Medicine, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia
2
Hubert Department of Global Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
3
Nutrition Branch, CDC, Atlanta, GA 30329-4027, USA
4
Northern Ireland Centre for Food and Health, Ulster University, Coleraine, Co., BT52 1SA Londonderry, UK
5
Nutritional Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
6
Nutrition Branch, CDC, Atlanta, GA 30329-4027, USA
7
Department of Pediatrics, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
8
Independent Public Health Nutrition Consultant, CB21 5JY Cambridge, UK
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Nutrients 2018, 10(8), 1100; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10081100
Received: 23 July 2018 / Revised: 8 August 2018 / Accepted: 13 August 2018 / Published: 16 August 2018
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vitamin A, Infectious Diseases and the Immune Function)
Abstract
The accurate estimation of vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is critical to informing programmatic and policy decisions that could have important public health implications. However, serum retinol and retinol binding protein (RBP) concentrations, two biomarkers often used to estimate VAD, are temporarily altered during the acute phase response, potentially overestimating the prevalence of VAD in populations with high levels of inflammation. In 22 nationally-representative surveys, we examined (1) the association between C-reactive protein (CRP) or α1-acid glycoprotein (AGP) and retinol or RBP, and (2) how different adjustment approaches for correcting for inflammation compare with one another. In preschool age children (PSC) and school age children (SAC), the association between inflammation and retinol and RBP was largely statistically significant; using the regression approach, adjustments for inflammation decreased the estimated prevalence of VAD compared to unadjusted VAD (range: −22.1 to −6.0 percentage points). In non-pregnant women of reproductive age (WRA), the association between inflammation and vitamin A biomarkers was inconsistent, precluding adjustments for inflammation. The burden of VAD can be overestimated if inflammation is not accounted for, and the regression approach provides a method for adjusting retinol and RBP for inflammation across the full range of concentrations in PSC and SAC. View Full-TextKeywords:
Vitamin A; inflammation; retinol; retinol binding protein; infection
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Larson, L.M.; Guo, J.; Williams, A.M.; Young, M.F.; Ismaily, S.; Addo, O.Y.; Thurnham, D.; Tanumihardjo, S.A.; Suchdev, P.S.; Northrop-Clewes, C.A. Approaches to Assess Vitamin A Status in Settings of Inflammation: Biomarkers Reflecting Inflammation and Nutritional Determinants of Anemia (BRINDA) Project. Nutrients 2018, 10, 1100.
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