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Query: UMLS:C0002871 (anemia)
 52,094 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Rapid urbanisation in South Africa has led to the creation of informal shack settlements where the health status of children is in jeopardy; it needs to be monitored so that appropriate intervention strategies can be formulated. Accordingly, the nutritional status of 190 children (3-6 years of age) living in Besters, a typical urban shack settlement north of Durban, was assessed anthropometrically. In addition the following biochemical values were determined: vitamins A and E, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, albumin, haemoglobin, serum iron and ferritin and percentage of transferrin saturation. Malnutrition was evident in 13% of the children who were underweight (below the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) third weight-for-age percentile) and 27% who were stunted (below the NCHS third height-for-age percentile). Concentrations of albumin, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and vitamin E were close to normal, with no more than 10% of the sample having values outside the normal range. However, 44% of the children had low serum retinol levels (< 20 micrograms/dl) and 21% of the children had anaemia (haemoglobin < 11 micrograms/dl). Significant positive correlations were found between serum retinol and all biochemical indicators of iron status except serum ferritin. This study highlights the fact that nutrient deficiencies are interrelated, particularly protein energy malnutrition and poor vitamin A and iron status. A broad multifaceted comprehensive health intervention programme is therefore required.
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PMID:Determining appropriate nutritional interventions for South African children living in informal urban settlements. 783 79

PAHO member countries maintain food and nutrition surveillance systems. The prevalence of malnutrition among children aged 0-4 in Latin American and Caribbean countries ranges from 0.8% in Chile to 38.5% in Guatemala. It is 2.9% in the US. Low height-for-age is most common among children aged 0-4 in Guatemala (57.9%), Bolivia (38.3%), Peru (35.2%), and Ecuador (34%). The interval between observations of malnutrition prevalence ranged from 22 years in Honduras to 3-4 years in Nicaragua and Panama. Overall, there was a downward trend in malnutrition rates in the Americas. Yet, malnutrition is increasing in Guatemala and Panama. Breast feeding, good weaning practices, appropriate feeding during disease episodes, nutrition education, and programs for immunization and control of diarrhea and respiratory diseases account for the downward trend. Anemia rates among pregnant women (=or 11 g Hb/dl) vary from 13% in Asuncion, Paraguay, to 61% in Misiones, Argentina. Those for preschoolers range from 22% to 45% in Brazil and 27% to 53% in Peru. The prevalence of goiter is more than 50% in Merida, Venezuela, and Chameza, Colombia. It differs greatly in different areas within the same country. Most countries have laws requiring iodination of all salt for human consumption, yet violations are common. Certain areas of the countries in the Americas have vitamin A deficiency rates ranging from 5% to 48.8%. Some countries have enacted laws for sugar enrichment with retinol palmitate to reduce vitamin A deficiency. During the 1970s, deaths from chronic diseases related to nutrition increased 105% in South America, 56% in Central America, Mexico, and Panama, and 21% in the Caribbean. Prevalence of obesity among children aged 0-6 varies from 2.2% in Nicaragua and Brazil to 10.7% in Chile. Adult obesity is most common in Uruguay (about 50%). It is more common among females than males. The highest rates among 20-29 year olds are in Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, and Peru. The US adult obesity rate is 12%.
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PMID:Nutritional situation in the Americas. 799 15

To compare the changes in Fe metabolism during the development of vitamin A and Fe deficiencies, rats were given either a control diet with sufficient Fe (35 mg added Fe/kg feed) and retinol (1200 retinol equivalents/kg feed), a diet without added vitamin A or a diet with sufficient vitamin A but only 3.5 mg added Fe/kg feed. During a period of 10 weeks, indicators of vitamin A and Fe status were monitored. Neither vitamin A nor Fe deficiency produced clinical signs. Fe deficiency induced an immediate fall in blood haemoglobin concentration. Vitamin A deficiency produced a mild anaemia as the first change in Fe metabolism, pointing to impaired erythropoiesis. This effect was followed by a rise in Fe absorption and an increased amount of Fe in the spleen. By the end of the study, blood haemoglobin, packed cell volume, plasma Fe and Fe content in kidney and femur had increased above control levels, while total Fe-binding capacity had decreased. We speculate that the initial anaemia was masked later by haemoconcentration. The decrease in Fe mobilization, shown by lower total Fe-binding capacity, and the increase in Fe absorption may have caused the observed continuous rise in tissue Fe concentration in rats with vitamin A deficiency. In the rats with Fe deficiency, low tissue Fe levels coincided with high Fe absorption and high total Fe-binding capacity. Thus, changes in Fe metabolism with vitamin A deficiency differed from those with Fe deficiency.
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PMID:Comparison between time-dependent changes in iron metabolism of rats as induced by marginal deficiency of either vitamin A or iron. 805 24

A total of 14,740 schoolchildren in seven provinces of Shoa Administrative Region in Central Ethiopia were surveyed for the prevalence of goitre, xerophthalmia and anaemia. Haemoglobin and packed cell volume were assessed in 966 children in one province while an in-depth study was conducted on 344 children in the same province and two others. Goitre, xerophthalmia (Bitot's spots) and clinical anaemia were observed in 34.2, 0.91 and 18.6% respectively of the children. Most biochemical variables were within the normal range while those of haemoglobin (Hb), mean corpuscular Hb concentration (MCHC) and urinary I excretion were lower, and mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular Hb (MCH), and immunoglobulins G and M were higher. Hb was strongly correlated with retinol, ferritin, MCHC, MCH, packed cell volume and erythrocyte count while retinol formed a triad with transthyretin (TTR) and retinol-binding protein (RBP) which were all correlated with one another. Total and free thyroxin and total and free triiodothyronine were positively correlated as were the concentrations of the total and free hormones. Thyrotropin (TSH) was negatively correlated with total and free thyroxin and positively correlated with free triiodothyronine. Thyroxin and triiodothyronine in both free and combined forms were all correlated with thyroxin-binding globulin which in turn was negatively correlated with the triad retinol, RBP and TTR. The triad was also negatively correlated with C-reactive protein. Urinary I excretion was positively associated with total thyroxin and negatively associated with TSH. The anaemia found was not nutritional in origin but due to the effect of infestation with intestinal parasites and malaria.
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PMID:Interrelationship between vitamin A, iodine and iron status in schoolchildren in Shoa Region, central Ethiopia. 826 Apr 84

Severe vitamin A deficiency in rats is known to cause anaemia associated with growth retardation and impaired water retention. However, study of the effect of marginal vitamin A intake is of more interest because such intake may mirror the situation in humans in many developing countries. Therefore, in two experiments, the effect of marginal vitamin A deficiency on Fe status was investigated in male rats. After 28 d of feeding either low- or high-vitamin A diets (0 or 120 v. 1200 retinol equivalents/kg feed), body weight and feed intake were not influenced by the level of vitamin A in the diet. Liver weight was lowered by vitamin A deficiency. Water intake was not influenced in rats fed on a low-vitamin A diet. Plasma retinol concentrations were decreased in rats fed on diets low in vitamin A. Marginal vitamin A deficiency produced slightly lower blood haemoglobin concentrations; it did not systematically affect packed cell volume. The concentration of Fe in liver was significantly higher when diets low in vitamin A were fed, but hepatic Fe mass was not affected. Significantly lower Fe levels were observed in femurs of rats with vitamin A deficiency. The effects on liver and femur Fe concentrations were seen with diets adequate in Fe but not with diets deficient in Fe. The efficiency of apparent Fe absorption was significantly increased by low intakes of vitamin A, provided that the dietary Fe concentration was adequate. It is speculated that depressed uptake of Fe by bone marrow is the primary feature of altered Fe status in rats with marginal vitamin A deficiency.
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PMID:Iron status in rats fed on diets containing marginal amounts of vitamin A. 829 15

Serum retinol and hemoglobin levels were determined in 532 children aged 6-60 months living in urban slums of Karachi, Pakistan. Overall 67% (358 of 532) of children had hemoglobin levels of less than 11 g/dl, the World Health Organization definition of anemia for this age group. Estimations for red blood cell indices (hematocrit, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, and red blood cell count) were done on a sample of 391 children to classify anemia morphologically. A similar percentage (69.8% [273 of 391 children]) of anemia was found in this group. The anemia was predominantly microcytic and hypochromic. Normocytic normochromic anemia was present in only 16.5%. Serum retinol levels were significantly correlated with hemoglobin (P < 0.002), hematocrit (P < 0.01), and red blood cell (P < 0.001) levels. However, anemia was found to be a poor predictor (positive predictive value [PPV] = 2.5%) for the presence of vitamin A deficiency (retinol < 10 micrograms/dl). The PPV increased to 54% if 20 micrograms/dl, which is an indicator of marginal vitamin A status, was used as the cutoff point. The sensitivity of the hemoglobin test was found to be 75% in correctly identifying vitamin A deficiency when retinol levels of 10 micrograms/dl and 20 micrograms/dl were both used as the cutoff points for deficiency. The specificity for the hemoglobin test varied from 33% to 40% when levels of 10 micrograms/dl and 20 micrograms/dl were used as the cutoff points for vitamin A deficiency.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Is anemia an accurate predictor of vitamin A status in Pakistani children? 835 91

Sex dependence of copper, zinc, iron nutritional status and hepatic lipid peroxidation was studied in gonadectomized, hormone substituted and sham-operated male and female rats. The experiment was performed on H-Wistar rats (106 +/- 10 g) fed conventional laboratory food ad libitum for 12 weeks. The estrogen dependence of copper status is fully confirmed by the results of this study. In hormonally active females the malondialdehyde production was depressed which is supposed to be connected with high copper and low triglyceride levels in the liver. The anaemia observed in estrogen substituted rats may be a result of lower lipid peroxidation rate. The levels of retinol and alkaline phosphatase activity in sera are probably influenced by estrogen action. It is suggested that testosterone leads to acceleration of lipid peroxidation.
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PMID:Effect of sex hormones on copper, zinc, iron nutritional status and hepatic lipid peroxidation in rats. 846 56

We determined the influence of undernutrition on blood soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) concentrations, an indicator of iron deficiency, in 99 Zairean women (aged 16-45 y) without inflammation. They were recruited during a survey on iron deficiency in rural Bas-Zaire. sTfR was measured by enzyme immunoassay, and indicators of nutritional status [albumin, transthyretin (or prealbumin), and retinol binding protein] were measured by radial immunodiffusion. Undernutrition was diagnosed if the concentration of any one of the indicators was below normal: albumin < 35 g/L, transthyretin < 160 mg/L, and retinol binding protein < 30 mg/L. The sTfR concentration ranged from 1.89 to 19.1 mg/L (mean: 8.7 mg/L). Mean values for indicators of nutritional status, serum ferritin, and transferrin saturation were within the normal range for health subjects. Regardless of the iron status (iron sufficiency, anemia, or iron deficiency with or without anemia) and whether women were pregnant or nonpregnant, undernutrition did not significantly reduce sTfR concentrations. A higher percentage (80%) of iron-deficient women with two or three protein values below normal had sTfR concentrations > 8 mg/L (which are suggestive of iron-deficiency erythropoiesis) compared with iron-deficient women with no (72.7%) or one (66.7%) protein value below normal, anemic women (46-60%) and iron-sufficient women (18.2-36.8%). Results suggest that sTfR can be used as an indicator of iron deficiency in field studies without in-depth assessment of nutritional status. However, the effect of severe malnutrition on this index requires further investigation.
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PMID:Serum transferrin receptor concentrations in women with mild malnutrition. 859 25

Studies with anaemic children and pregnant women from areas where vitamin A deficiency is endemic have shown a beneficial effect on Fe status of supplemental vitamin A in addition to Fe supplementation. This suggests a relationship between vitamin A and Fe status, which we attempted to mimic in rats with anaemia and chronic vitamin A deficiency. Male rats were fed on Fe-adequate diets (35 mg Fe/kg) containing different levels of vitamin A (1200, 450, 150, 75 and 0 retinol equivalent (RE)/kg feed) until they were 5 weeks old. These diets were identical to the diets fed to their mothers. Then the young male rats were transferred to diets containing the same levels of vitamin A but no added Fe. After another 2 weeks the rats were repleted with Fe (35 mg/kg feed) without or with vitamin A to a level of 1200 RE/kg feed. Increased vitamin A intake by the groups previously fed on diets with either 0 or 75 RE/kg produced a reduction in blood haemoglobin concentration, packed cell volume and erythrocyte count. In the group which had been fed on the diet without vitamin A, supplemental vitamin A raised mean cell volume, plasma Fe concentration and total Fe-binding capacity. Vitamin A supplementation during the period of Fe repletion produced a decrease in splenic and tibia Fe concentration, the effect being greater with increasing severity of previous vitamin A deficiency. The paradoxical effect of supplemental vitamin A on haemoglobin, packed cell volume and erythrocyte count can be explained by a decrease in the degree of haemoconcentration. Thus, the positive effect of supplemental vitamin A seen in humans is also observed with rats under controlled experimental conditions. We speculate that supplemental vitamin A during Fe repletion contributes to optimum erythropoiesis and Fe mobilization when baseline vitamin A status is impaired.
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PMID:Supplemental vitamin A enhances the recovery from iron deficiency in rats with chronic vitamin A deficiency. 867 14

To assess the prevalence of vitamin A deficiency in anemic Pakistani children and investigate the hematologic response to vitamin A supplementation, 4-8 year old primary school children from the slum areas of Karachi were surveyed for anemia. Of 101 anemic children selected, 16% had low level of vitamin A ( < 20 micrograms/dl) and an additional 2% had deficient level ( < 10 micrograms/dl). Serum Retinol level showed positive associated with serum iron, ferritin, hemoglobin, hematocrit and Mean cell hemoglobin concentration. A non-randomized control trial was then carried out. Oral vitamin A capsules were given to 42 children and 53 children served as controls. After 6 weeks, there were significant differences between the two groups for Retinol, Retinol-Binding-Protein and Hematocrit. However, no significant difference could be found for Hemoglobin, RBC count, Mean Corpuscular Volume, Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin, Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin Concentration, Serum iron, ferritin or transferrin. A single vitamin A supplement improved the hematocrit in 6 weeks. Long-term studies are needed to find if the WHO recommended periodic massive doses of vitamin A besides improving the morbidity and mortality will also improve the overall picture of anemia in children.
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PMID:Hematologic effect of vitamin A supplementation in anemic Pakistani children. 868 46


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