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Biomarkers of Nutrition for Development (BOND)—Vitamin A Review

Lookup NU author(s): Professor Georg Lietz

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).


Abstract

The Biomarkers of Nutrition for Development (BOND) project is designed to provide evidence-informed advice to anyone with an interest in the role of nutrition in health. The BOND program provides information with regard to selection, use, and interpretation of biomarkers of nutrient exposure, status, function, and effect, which will be especially useful for readers who want to assess nutrient status. To accomplish this objective, expert panels are recruited to evaluate the literature and to draft comprehensive reports on the current state of the art with regard to specific nutrient biology and available biomarkers for assessing nutritional status at the individual and population levels. Phase I of the BOND project includes the evaluation of biomarkers for 6 nutrients: iodine, folate, zinc, iron, vitamin A, and vitamin B-12. This review of vitamin A is the current article in this series. Although the vitamin was discovered >100 y ago, vitamin A status assessment is not trivial. Serum retinol concentrations are under homeostatic control due in part to vitamin A's use in the body for growth and cellular differentiation and because of its toxic properties at high concentrations. Furthermore, serum retinol concentrations are depressed during infection and inflammation because retinol-binding protein (RBP) is a negative acute-phase reactant, which makes status assessment challenging. Thus, this review describes the clinical and functional indicators related to eye health and biochemical biomarkers of vitamin A status (i.e., serum retinol, RBP, breast-milk retinol, dose-response tests, isotope dilution methodology, and serum retinyl esters). These biomarkers are then related to liver vitamin A concentrations, which are usually considered the gold standard for vitamin A status. With regard to biomarkers, future research questions and gaps in our current understanding as well as limitations of the methods are described.


Publication metadata

Author(s): Tanumihardjo SA, Russell RM, Stephensen CB, Gannon BM, Craft NE, Haskell MJ, Lietz G, Schulze K, Raiten DJ

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Journal of Nutrition

Year: 2016

Volume: 146

Issue: 9

Pages: 1816-1848

Print publication date: 01/09/2016

Online publication date: 10/08/2016

Acceptance date: 29/06/2016

Date deposited: 05/08/2020

ISSN (print): 0022-3166

ISSN (electronic): 1541-6100

Publisher: American Society for Nutrition

URL: https://doi.org/10.3945/jn.115.229708

DOI: 10.3945/jn.115.229708


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