Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in overweight children and its relationship with retinol serum levels.

Objectives: To evaluate the frequency of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, the retinol serum levels, lipid profile, and insulin resistance in overweight/obese children. To relate these biochemical variables with the risk of this disease in the population studied.

Methods: The study was cross-sectional and prospective, with 46 overweight/obese school children (28 female, 18 male; mean age 8.

Association of serum concentrations of retinol and carotenoids with overweight in children and adolescents.

Objective: A study was conducted to verify the association between serum concentrations of retinol and carotenoids with overweight in children and adolescents.

Methods: In total 471 children (7-9.9 y of age) and adolescents (10-17 y of age), living in a poor region of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, were assessed.

[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.

Serum retinol and total carotene concentrations in obese pre-school children.

Background: Obesity among pre-school children and its repercussions on adult life are growing problems, but there has been little research focusing on its relationship with the deficiency of serum retinol and carotenoids in our region.

Material/methods: In a case-control study, a group of 46 preschool children, were matched by sex and age (23 obese and 23 non-obese subjects; average age 5.74 and 5.

Association between gestational night blindness and serum retinol in mother/newborn pairs in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Objective: Gestational night blindness (XN) is associated with increased risk of reproductive morbidity and mortality. This study investigated the prevalence of gestational XN among postpartum women treated in a public maternity hospital in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and evaluated its association with maternal and neonatal (cord blood) serum retinol concentrations.

Methods: XN was evaluated retrospectively, using an interview according to guidelines of the World Health Organization, in 222 postpartum women (< or = 6 h after delivery) after singleton births who had low obstetric risk.

Gestational nightblindness among women attending a public maternity hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

This study evaluated the prevalence of gestational nightblindness among postpartum women seen at the University Maternal Hospital of the Federal University in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and the association of this symptom with a biochemical indicator (serum retinol levels) and sociodemographic, anthropometric and antenatal care variables. In total, 262 postpartum women, who did not receive vitamin A supplementation during pregnancy, were interviewed. Gestational nightblindness was diagnosed through the standardized interview as proposed by WHO.

Impact of vitamin A megadose supplementation on the anthropometry of children and adolescents with non-hormonal statural deficit: a double-blind and randomized clinical study.

Objective: To evaluate the intake of retinol and carotenoids, and their serum levels, as well as the impact of vitamin A supplementation on the anthropometry and body composition of children and adolescents with non-hormonal-related statural deficit.

Method: Double-blind, randomized trial of 46 pre-pubertal patients, between 4 and 14 years of age, with normal growth rates. The subjects were divided into two groups, each with 23 individuals (Group I: Placebo; Group II: Vitamin A in a single megadose), and were evaluated at moments A and B with a six month interval.

[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.