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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Davis, California » Western Human Nutrition Research Center » Immunity and Disease Prevention Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #324724
Title: Biomarkers of Nutrition for Development – Vitamin A Review

Author
item TANUMINHARDJO, SHERRY - University Of Wisconsin
item RUSSELL, ROBERT - Tufts University
item Stephensen, Charles
item GANNON, BRYAN - University Of Wisconsin
item CRAFT, NEAL - Craft Technologies
item HASKELL, MARJORIE - University Of California Agriculture And Natural Resources (UCANR)
item LIETZ, GEORG - Newcastle University
item SCHULZE, KERRY - Johns Hopkins University
item RAITEN, DANIEL - National Institutes Of Health (NIH)

Submitted to: Journal of Nutrition
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/29/2016
Publication Date: 9/1/2016
Citation: Tanuminhardjo, S.A., Russell, R.M., Stephensen, C.B., Gannon, B.M., Craft, N.E., Haskell, M.J., Lietz, G., Schulze, K., Raiten, D.J. 2016. Biomarkers of Nutrition for Development – Vitamin A Review. Journal of Nutrition. 146/p.18165-18485.

Interpretive Summary: The Biomarkers of Nutrition for Development (BOND) project is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and is designed to provide evidence-informed advice to anyone with an interest in the role of nutrition in health. 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 level. This manuscript is a review of vitamin A. Although the vitamin was discovered more than 100 years ago, vitamin A status assessment is not trivial. Serum retinol concentrations are under homeostatic control due in part to its 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 is a negative acute phase reactant. Thus, this review will describe the clinical, functional, and biochemical biomarkers of vitamin A status and how they relate to liver vitamin A concentrations, which are usually considered the gold standard for vitamin A status. In regard to biomarkers, future research questions and lapses in our current understanding as well as limitations of the methods are described.

Technical 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. Specifically, the BOND program provides state-of-the-art information and service with regard to selection, use, and interpretation of biomarkers of nutrient exposure, status, function, and effect. 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 level. 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 next paper in this series. Although the vitamin was discovered more than 100 years ago, vitamin A status assessment is not trivial. Serum retinol concentrations are under homeostatic control due in part to its 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 is a negative acute phase reactant. Thus, this review will describe the clinical, functional, and biochemical biomarkers of vitamin A status and how they relate to liver vitamin A concentrations, which are usually considered the gold standard for vitamin A status. In regard to biomarkers, future research questions and lapses in our current understanding as well as limitations of the methods are described.