Plasma vitamin A, E, and beta-carotene levels in adult post-partum Algerian women

Vitamins A and E are essential for foetal growth, reproduction, and lactati on, In this article we report the results of a study, lead in three Eastern Algeria cities, that involved 786 post-partum women and 250 control. Plasm a levels of vitamins A, El beta-carotene, and some nutritional indexes were measured in both groups. In control women. plasma retinol and beta-carotene levels were significantl y lower in Algeria than in France (retinol: 1.4 +/- 0.42 vs. 1.78 +/- 0.53 mu mol/l; beta-carotene: 0.35 +/- 0.261 vs, 0.94 +/- 0.611), These differen ces could be the consequence of different beta-carotene and retinol intakes . In Algeria, comparisons between post-partum women and controls, showed that plasma vitamin A and beta-carotene levels were significantly lower in post -partum than in control women, This fact, and the lower level of retinol in control women, raises the question of supplementation for pregnant women i n Algeria, at least for those with the lowest standard of living whose prot ein and zinc levels are also very low after delivery, Plasma vitamin E levels and Vitamin E/total lipid ratios were not different in Algeria and in France. Vitamin E concentration was higher during pregna ncy, but the Vitamin E/total lipid ratio was significantly lower, which sho ws a relative deficiency at the end of pregnancy, Comparisons of plasma vit amin E levels, at delivery, in primiparous and in multiparous women reveal a better tocopherol status in multiparous women. This difference could refl ect an adaptive response to oxidative stress in multiparous women.