Vitamin A Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Vitamin A, including details on retinol, benefits, dosage, supplements, deficiency, information.

The role of expanded coverage of the national vitamin A program in preventing morbidity and mortality among preschool children in India.

Semba RD, de Pee S, Sun K, Bloem MW, Raju VK

Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA. rdsemba@jhmi.edu

Higher food prices increase the risk of vitamin A deficiency among preschool children in poor families, because a larger part of the household food budget is spent on grain foods and less on vitamin A-rich foods. Vitamin A supplementation is an important source of vitamin A for children. Our objective was to characterize coverage of the India national vitamin A program for preschool children and identify risk factors for not receiving vitamin A. Anthropometric and demographic data were examined in 23,008 children aged 12-59 mo in the India National Family Health Survey, 2005-2006. Within the last 6 mo, 20.2% of children received vitamin A supplementation. The prevalence of stunting, severe stunting, underweight, and severe underweight was higher among children who did not receive vitamin A compared with those who received vitamin A (P < 0.0001). In families with a child who did and did not receive vitamin A, respectively, the proportion with a history of under-5 child mortality was 8.4 vs. 11.4% (P < 0.0001). By state, vitamin A program coverage was inversely proportional to the under-5 child mortality rate (r = -0.51; P = 0.004). Maternal education of > or =10 y [odds ratio (OR) 2.22; 95% CI 1.69-2.91], 7-9 y (OR 1.99; 95% CI 1.57-2.53), or 1-6 y (OR 1.65; 95% CI 1.28-2.13) compared with no education was an important factor related to receipt of vitamin A. Poor coverage of the vitamin A supplementation program in India has serious implications in the face of rising food prices. Expanded coverage of the vitamin A program in India will help protect children from morbidity, mortality, and blindness.

Published 21 December 2009 in J Nutr, 140(1): 208S-12S.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

Articles on Vitamin A published 21 December 2009:

Vitamin A intake and status in populations facing economic stress.   J Nutr, 140(1): 201S-7S.

Dietary quality and diversity reflect adequacy of vitamin A. Both can deteriorate in response to economic crises. Although the nutritional consequences of the 2008 world food price crisis remain unclear, past studies of diet, status, and socioeconomic standing under usual (deprived) and unusually disruptive times suggest dietary quality and vitamin A status decline in mothers and young children. This is presumably the result of shifting diets to include less preformed vitamin A-rich animal ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Vitamin A published 16 December 2009:

How I treat acute promyelocytic leukemia.   Blood, 114(25): 5126-35.

Acute promyelocytic leukemia is the first malignant disease highly curable with targeted therapy directed at a unique molecular abnormality. The characteristic bleeding diathesis is the most notorious manifestation of the disease, which historically has accounted for a high mortality rate during induction. Acute promyelocytic leukemia is one of the few hematologic diseases that must be recognized under the microscope by the practicing hematologist because early institution of all-trans retinoic ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Vitamin A published 3 December 2009:

Retinol-binding site in interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein (IRBP): a novel hydrophobic cavity.   Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci, 50(12): 5577-86.

PURPOSE: Interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein (IRBP) appears to target and protect retinoids during the visual cycle. X-ray crystallographic studies had noted a betabetaalpha-spiral fold shared with crotonases and C-terminal protein transferases. The shallow cleft formed by the fold was assumed to represent the retinol-binding site. However, a second hydrophobic site consisting of a highly restricted cavity was more recently appreciated during in silico ligand-docking studies. In this ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Vitamin A published 30 November 2009:

NR4A orphan nuclear receptors influence retinoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid signaling via up-regulation of fatty acid binding protein 5.   Biochem Biophys Res Commun, 390(4): 1186-91.

The orphan nuclear receptor (NR) Nurr1 is expressed in the developing and adult nervous system and is also induced as an immediate early gene in a variety of cell types. In silico analysis of human promoters identified fatty acid binding protein 5 (FABP5), a protein shown to enhance retinoic acid-mediated PPARbeta/delta signaling, as a potential Nurr1 target gene. Nurr1 has previously been implicated in retinoid signaling via its heterodimerization partner RXR. Since NRs are commonly involved ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Vitamin A published 27 November 2009:

Vav1 and PU.1 are recruited to the CD11b promoter in APL-derived promyelocytes: role of Vav1 in modulating PU.1-containing complexes during ATRA-induced differentiation.   Exp Cell Res, 316(1): 38-47.

Vav1 plays an important role in the all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA)-induced completion of the differentiation program of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL)-derived cells, in which it strengthens the drug effects and is involved in the regulation of maturation-related proteins, such as the CD11b surface antigen. In both myeloid and lymphoid cells, accumulating data attribute to the multidomain protein Vav1 a functional relevance in the control of gene expression, by direct interaction with ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Vitamin A published 25 November 2009:

Retinoic acid induces discrete Wnt-signaling-dependent differentiation in F9 cells.   Biochem Biophys Res Commun, 390(3): 564-9.

Retinoic acid (RA) induces F9 cells, the mouse teratocarcinoma cells, to differentiate into primitive endoderm and further into visceral and parietal endoderm depending on the culture conditions. To elucidate the instructive mechanisms involved in the differentiation steps we investigated the effects of Wnt-signaling members, Wnt3a and beta-catenin, on the differentiation of F9 cells and beta-catenin-deficient F9 cells (betaT cells). RA up-regulated the expression of differentiation markers for ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Activation of retinoic acid receptors by dihydroretinoids.   Mol Pharmacol, 76(6): 1228-37.

Vitamin A-derived metabolites act as ligands for nuclear receptors controlling the expression of a number of genes. Stereospecific saturation of the C(13)-C(14) double bond of all-trans-retinol by the enzyme, retinol saturase (RetSat), leads to the production of (R)-all-trans-13,14-dihydroretinol. In liver and adipose tissue, expression of RetSat is controlled by peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPAR) alpha and gamma, respectively. Expression of RetSat in adipose tissue is also ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Vitamin A published 16 November 2009:

Retinoids activate RXR/CAR-mediated pathway and induce CYP3A.   Biochem Pharmacol, 79(2): 270-6.

Retinoids and carotenoids are frequently used as antioxidants to prevent cancer. In this study, a panel of retinoids and carotenoids was examined to determine their effects on activation of RXR/CAR-mediated pathway and regulation of CYP3A gene expression. Transient transfection assays of HepG2 cells revealed that five out of thirteen studied retinoids significantly induced RXRalpha/CAR-mediated activation of luciferase activity that is driven by the thymidine kinase promoter linked with a PXR ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

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