Vitamin A Supplementation in Acute Diarrhea

Abstract

ABSTRACTBackgroundVitamin A supplementation reduces the severity of subsequent diarrheal episodes. This study was conducted to examine the effect of single oral high‐dose vitamin A supplementation on the duration of acute diarrhea in 6‐to 12‐month‐old infants who are not malnourished.MethodIn this double‐blind, randomized, placebo‐controlled study, infants who were admitted to Hacettepe University Ihsan Dogramaci Children's Hospital Diarrheal Diseases Training and Treatment Unit with acute diarrhea were randomly assigned either to a group receiving a single oral dose of 100,000 IU vitamin A or placebo. There were 60 infants in each group. All infants were followed up until the diarrheal episode ended. Serum vitamin A levels were determined both at admission and 2 weeks later.ResultsNo effect of vitamin A supplementation could be demonstrated on either the total duration of diarrhea (7.4 ± 3.2 days in the treatment group vs. 7.8 ± 3.1 days in the placebo group) or on its duration after intervention (3.8 ± 2.3 days in the treatment group vs. 3.9 ± 1.9 days in the placebo group;P > 0.05 for both comparisons). Serum vitamin A levels were not significantly different at admission (23.5 ± 9.7 μg/dL in the treatment group vs. 24.1 ± 9.7 μg/dL in the placebo group;P > 0.05) nor at the end of a follow‐up period of 2 weeks (treatment: 33.3 ± 13.7 μg/dL, placebo: 35.2 ± 11.2 μg/dL;P > 0.05). However, the increase in serum vitamin A levels at the end of the 2‐week follow‐up interval for infants in both the treatment and placebo groups were found to be significant compared with levels at admission (P < 0.01). The mean weight gain in both groups were similar by the end of the first month (6.9 ± 5.0% in the treatment group vs. 6.3 ± 4.2% in the placebo group;P > 0.05).ConclusionNo effect of oral vitamin A supplementation on serum vitamin A levels, duration of diarrhea, or weight gain during an acute diarrheal episode could be demonstrated in our study group of infants between 6 and 12 months of age who had no malnutrition.