Resumen

LUZ, Kleber Giovanni; SUCCI, Regina Célia de M.  y  TORRES, Elizabeth. Vitamin A serum level in children with visceral leishmaniasis. Rev. Soc. Bras. Med. Trop. [online]. 2001, vol.34, n.4, pp. 381-384. ISSN 0037-8682.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0037-86822001000400013.

Vitamin A is considered an anti-infectious disease vitamin, and its deficiency is associated with severe infections such as in measles. In developing countries the low concentrations of vitamin A are a public health problem. The aim of this study is to describe serum vitamin A concentrations among children with visceral leishmaniasis (VL). Blood sample was collected from 22 children with VL, and stored in a freezer, 9 siblings, with no clinical signs of the VL patients had their blood collected for a control group. Samples were assayed by high performance liquid chromatography. The median vitamin A concentration in the LV group was 21.38µg/100ml and in the control group it was 31.39µg/100. The mean in the LV was statistically lower than in the control group, using Student's t test, p<0.01.

Palabras llave : Visceral leishmaniasis; Vitamin A; Hypovitaminosis A; Calazar.