Serum Retinol, β-Carotene, α-Tocopherol and Cholesterol in Healthy French Children

Abstract

Age- and sex-specific reference intervals of data derived from a healthy paediatric population are presented for retinol, beta-carotene, alpha-tocopherol, cholesterol and related proteins in serum. Age was an important covariate for the micronutrient concentration values. Retinol was highly correlated with alpha-tocopherol and cholesterol. Strong correlation was found with both beta-carotene and cholesterol. Serum levels were considered for their appropriateness as indicators of micronutrient status.

Serum Vitamin A and β-Carotene Levels in Children with Asthma

“…The serum levels of vitamin A and β-carotene in the control group were similar to the levels previously reported (18,19). Similarly, the level of serum cholesterol and triglycerides in the control group was also in agreement with earlier published reports (20,21).…”

Plasma carotenoids in German children and adolescents

“…Only 6% of them had values below 0.53 µmol/l (300 µg/l), which has been proposed as the lower limit of plasma β-carotene concentration to fulfill provitamin A function [22]. In our study group more than 50% of the children did not reach this level, and -as in the study by Malvy et al [15] -low β-carotene levels were especially common in girls between 10 and 14 years. However, retinol requirements in German children are mainly met by direct intake and all plasma retinol levels in our study group were in the normal range (data not shown).…”

“…A tendency towards higher levels of αand β-carotene in younger children was also found in France, but these children had on an average higher levels of β-carotene [15]. Only 6% of them had values below 0.53 µmol/l (300 µg/l), which has been proposed as the lower limit of plasma β-carotene concentration to fulfill provitamin A function [22].…”

Validation of night blindness reports among children and women in a vitamin A deficient population in rural Tanzania

“…These were considerably higher than the median serum retinol concentrations in comparable age groups in the Tanzanian school-age children. Similar to other school-age populations, the distribution of serum retinol concentrations in primary school-age children increased with age (P ¼ 0.027; Table 2) (Lewis et al, 1990;Malvy et al, 1993).…”