[Association between maternal and newborn vitamin A status and economic stratum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil].

Background: Retinol was determined spectrophotometrically in the blood of 291 mothers at delivery and in the umbilical cord of the newborn. The mothers came from different socioeconomic strata in Rio de Janeiro.

Methods: Levels of retinol were determined using spectrophotometry (Bessey et al).

Intraplacental retinol distribution.

With the objective of evaluating intraplacental vitamin A distribution, 234 placental samples were collected, corresponding to six samples from each of the placentas analyzed: two from the lateral maternal portion, one from the central maternal portion, two from the lateral fetal portion, and one from the central fetal portion. Samples were obtained from 39 adult puerperal mothers with low-risk pregnancies, without vitamin A deficiency or night blindness. Retinol content determination was achieved through spectrophotometry.

[Hypovitaminosis A in Brazil: a public health problem].

Vitamin A deficiency is considered one of the most important of the easily preventable public health problems in a number of countries, including Brazil. The objective of this study was to review the scientific literature in the MEDLINE and LILACS databases that was published between 1970 and 2000 concerning vitamin A deficiency, and to assess the occurrence of hypovitaminosis A in Latin America, especially Brazil. Our research showed that until around 1980 the public health concerns focused mainly on the importance of vitamin A in ensuring good vision.