SUBCLINICAL VITAMIN-A-DEFICIENCY IN YOUNG INFANTS FROM BANGLADESH

In Bangladesh, the high prevalence of clinically evident vitamin A def iciency in children under 5 years has been well documented, however, l ittle is known about the vitamin A status of children under 1 year. Th e relative dose response (RDR) test was carried out in 85 healthy infa nts (5.9 +/- 2.3 months) coming to the International Centre for Diarrh oeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B) or Dhaka Shishu Hospital f or routine immunization and whose parents agreed to participate in the study. Mean serum retinol [R] was 0.66 +/- 0.3 mu mol/l and mean RDR value was 29.8 +/- 22.1. Fifty-six (56%) percent of the infants had se rum [R] values under 0.70 mu mol/l and 18% under 0.35 mu mol/l. Sixty- four percent (64%) of the infants had abnormal RDR values (greater tha n or equal to 20) indicating low liver reserves of vitamin A. These re sults indicate that there is a high prevalence of subclinical vitamin A deficiency in Bangladeshi infants. RDR values showed a negative corr elation with weight-forage. The percentage of infants with serum retin ol concentration <0.70 mu mol/l or with RDR response greater than or e qual to 20% was the same in all age groups (2 - <5 mo, 67% vs 67%; 5 - <7 mo, 60% vs 75%; 7-12 mo, 33% vs 39%). In this population of infant s with low liver reserves, serum retinol level is as good (and more pr actical) as the RDR response test in diagnosing deficient vitamin A st atus. Copyright (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Inc.