Analysis of fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E levels in the serum of healthy children

Abstract

Objective To investigate the serum levels of vitamin A, D, E in healthy children in Beijing. Methods We collected clinical data of healthy children who had been living in Beijing for more than six months. Their serum vitamin A and vitamin E levels were measured by reverse phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detection method; serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D [25-(OH)D] level was measured with liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). Results A total of 1 538 healthy children were included. The average level of vitamin A was (0.30±0.07)mg/L; subclinical deficiency rate was 5.2% (80/1 538), of whom 70.0% (56/80) were 3 years. Spearman' s correlation coefficients between the serum vitamin A, 25-(OH)D, vitamin E and age were 0.197, -0.420, and -0.319, respectively. Conclusions Serum vitamin A level in healthy children may be mainly in suspected subclinical deficiency state. Infants generally in good vitamin D nutritional status, while vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency is more prevalent in school-age children and teenagers. Vitamin E deficiency is rare. Key words: Child; Vitamin A; Vitamin E; 25-hydroxy vitamin D; Deficiency