Albumin and Serum Vitamin A Status of Malnourished Children

Egbe Edmund Richard

doi:10.11648/j.ejcbs.20180401.12

Egbe Edmund Richard

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ejcbs.20180401.12

Copy DOI

Abstract

Malnutrition remains a major health problem in the third world countries, and is a key factor to the high death rate among children below five years old. This study aimed to determine serum vitamin A, mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC), and albumin levels of malnourished children and their well-fed counterparts. A total of one hundred (100) children comprising of fifty (50) malnourished children under the age of five years and fifty (50) well-fed age-matched children were recruited into this study. Mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) measurement was used to categorize the children into malnourished and the well-fed groups. The malnourished were further classified into kwashiorkor and marasmic cohorts. Serum vitamin A and albumin levels were determined by colorimetric methods. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20.0 statistical package, differences between and variations among groups were determined by Student’s t-test and ANOVA respectively while the association between variables by Pearson’s correlation. Differences were considered statistically significant at p≤0.05. Serum vitamin A, MUAC and albumin levels of the well-fed group were significantly higher (p<0.05) than those of the malnourished. Comparing the well-fed, the kwashiorkor and the marasmic groups, the mean serum vitamin A, MUAC and albumin of the well-fed were significantly higher (p=0.001) than those of the kwashiorkor and marasmic groups. Mean albumin level of the kwashiorkor was significantly lower (p<0.05) than that of marasmic group. Mean MUAC of the kwashiorkor subjects was significantly higher (p<0.05) than that of the marasmic subjects. Serum vitamin A was not significantly different (p=0.724) between the kwashiorkor and the marasmic groups. In the marasmic subjects mean serum vitamin A correlates negatively with albumin (r= -0.517, p=0.011). In the kwashiorkor subjects, serum vitamin A correlates negatively with albumin (r=-0.080, p=0.690). In the well-fed children, serum vitamin A correlates positively with albumin (r=0.340, p=0.016). Conclusion: malnourished children with kwashiorkor and marasmus have lower albumin, serum vitamin A and MUAC compared with the well-fed children.

Highlights

The first insertion of the millennium development Goals (MDGS) is the “eradication of extreme poverty and hunger” [1]
This study shows that serum vitamin A, mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) and albumin values vary with nutritional status of growing children and in malnourished children, the parameters are significantly lower than those of the well-fed counterpart
The significantly lower levels of vitamin A, mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) and albumin in the malnourished children may be due to low intake and malabsorption of vitamin A-rich foods, diminished bioavailability of provitamin A, exhaustion of hepatic stores of vitamin A, reduced hepatic albumin synthesis and reduced retinol binding protein required for vitamin A transport from the liver, increased demand for vitamin A and suppression of anabolic processes in order to compensate for increased energy requirement of the body in the malnourished, muscle wasting and depletion of proteins of the gut compartment resulting from imbalances between nutrient intakes and body requirement

Summary

Introduction

The first insertion of the millennium development Goals (MDGS) is the “eradication of extreme poverty and hunger” [1]. Economic deprivation and poverty affect children more; resulting in childhood malnutrition. Malnutrition is a state of inadequate or improper nutrition, which may be as a result of a combination of insufficient intake of proteins, calories, vitamins and minerals as well as frequently untreated or poorly treated infections in children of developing countries [2, 3, 4]. An adequate diet should provide, energy in the form of carbohydrates, fats and proteins, essential as well as nonessential amino acids and fatty acids which serve as building blocks for the synthesis of structural and functional proteins and lipids, vitamins and minerals, which function as coenzymes in vital metabolic pathways. Vitamin A deficiency is a common occurrence in malnourished children. Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) refers to serum retinol ≤ 20 μg/dL or ≤ 0.7

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion