Zinc and vitamin A in liver of foetuses and infants

Quality control of banked milk in Brasilia, Brazil

The authors studied quality control procedures at human milk banks and nutritional profiles of 909 milk samples (from 195 donors, aged 15 to 45 years) from banked human milk (BHM) in Brasília, Brazil. Number of donations per donor ranged from 1 to > 10 that consisted mostly of mature milk (90.9%) with a mean total energy of 529 +/- 85 kcal/L and a mean total lipid of 22.7 g/L +/- 13.2. Microbiological quality (titrable acidity-Dornic, degrees D) was suitable for infant feeding in 99.2% of samples (< 8 degrees D), ranging from 2 degrees D to 8 degrees D (mean 4.8 +/- 1.4 degrees D). Most BHM (98.1%) samples were dispensed to inpatient infants (1-7 days) diagnosed with respiratory distress (30.1%), prematurity (20.7%), metabolic distress (16.0%), jaundice (14.4%), bacterial infection (6.0%), pneumonia (3.3%), congenital cardiac distress (2.2%), or other conditions (6.2%). Well-motivated mothers and trained staff are serving and sustaining an important life-saving network with long-lasting impact on public health.

Synergistic effect of zinc and vitamin A on the biochemical indexes of vitamin A nutrition in children

BACKGROUND

Zinc deficiency limits the bioavailability of vitamin A. Because zinc and vitamin A deficiency often coexist in malnourished children, simultaneous zinc and vitamin A supplementation may improve the vitamin A deficiency in these children.

OBJECTIVE

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled intervention trial was conducted to evaluate whether combining zinc and vitamin A supplementation would improve the biochemical indexes of vitamin A nutriture.

DESIGN

Children aged 12-35 mo were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 intervention groups: 20 mg Zn/d for 14 d (Z group), 60000 retinol equivalents (200000 IU) vitamin A on day 14 (A group), zinc plus vitamin A (ZA group), or placebo syrup and placebo capsule (placebo group). Venous blood was drawn at enrollment and on day 21.

RESULTS

Mean serum retinol concentrations were not significantly different between the A and ZA groups. Among vitamin A-deficient children, the proportion of children who remained vitamin A deficient (serum retinol <0.7 micromol/L) after supplementation was 40.6% in the Z group, 37.5% in the A group, and 47.0% in the placebo group; only 13.3% in the ZA group remained vitamin A deficient (P < 0.05 compared with the placebo group). The proportion of children whose retinol binding protein concentrations remained low was significantly lower in the ZA group than in the other groups (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Combined zinc and vitamin A supplementation improves vitamin A nutriture in vitamin A-deficient children.