Tehran University Medical Journal (Mar 2014)
Vitamin A, D and zinc serum levels in children with and without acute respiratory tract infection in two university hospitals
Abstract
Background: Severity of respiratory infection in children is depended on various fac-tors such as causative organism and the host immunologic response to the organism. Vitamins and micronutrients play an important role in this response with supporting the immune system and therefore, the response to infections. Nutritional deprivations in children, especially vitamins and micronutrients such as zinc, vitamin A and vitamin D are very common in middle east and other countries in Asia, which is due to inappro-priate diet and nutrient loss in recurrent infections. This study aimed to evaluate the se-rum levels of vitamins A, D and zinc in hospitalized children aged six months to five years. Methods: This analytic cross-sectional study was performed in 65 children aged six months to five years who were hospitalized in pediatric and surgical wards of Rasul Akram Hospital and Bahrami Hospital in Tehran. All of samples were evaluated ac-cording to WHO cri-teria for acute respiratory infection, and underwent measurement of serum vitamin A, vitamin D and zinc levels by using Atomic, Elisa and spectropho-tometer methods. Results: Serum levels of vitamins A in patients with acute respiratory infection was 0.27±0.16 µg/ml and in children without infection was 0.41±0.2 µg/ml, that different wasn’t statistically significant (P=0.4). Serum levels of vitamins D in patients with acute respiratory infection was 35.37±34.68 ng/ml and in children without infection was 45.78±21.05 ng/ml, that different wasn’t statistically significant (P=0.1). Serum levels of zinc in patients with acute respiratory infection was 87.93±23.34 µg/dl and in chil-dren without infection was 106.95±23.70 µg/dl, the difference was statistically signifi-cant (P=0.002). Conclusion: According to finding in this trial, there is a correlation between lower levels of zinc in serum, and chance of respiratory tract infection in children. Future larger studies could provide the correlation between serum levels of vitamins A & D and chance of respiratory tract infection.
