Is there a reliable reference value for blood vitamin A in children?

• Grant number: 19/13620-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: November 01, 2019
• End date: February 29, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Collective Health - Epidemiology
• Principal Investigator: Heraclito Barbosa de Carvalho
• Grantee: Tatiana Sadalla Collese
• Supervisor: Edward Giovannucci
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina (FM). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Harvard University, Cambridge, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 16/13922-1 - Validation of Dietary Assessment Methods in Children: SAYCARE Study, BP.DR

Abstract

Proposal of a research internship with Harvard University (School of Public Health) between November 2019 - February 2020 under the supervision of Professor Dr. Edward Giovannucci. We aim to learn about Nutritional Epidemiology and the statistical analyses for validity of dietary assessment methods (the goal of the Ph.D. scholarship in Brazil), contextualizing the peculiarities related to the biomarkers used for this validity, in particular, the vitamin A. In addition, we also aim to improve our scientific qualification in several aspects, such as the writing of the systematic review and learning with the research group in courses, seminars, and other scientific studies. Objective: To systematically review the scientific literature about the opportunities/challenges for the development of blood vitamin A reference values in children. Methods: We will search the Medline, Web of Science, Embase and Central databases, using the descriptors: children; vitamin A; retinol; beta-carotene; anemia; xerophthalmia; immune function; bone fracture; impaired growth; mortality. We pretend to establish a critical level between blood concentrations of retinol and beta-carotene and dietary intake of vitamin A. If the within-population variance of vitamin A intake is constant across populations (that varied by vitamin A status), the mean of the distribution will be relocated over the cutoff point for a biomarker/clinical outcome, thus used to estimate the cutoff point for blood vitamin A (retinol and beta-carotene). We hope the findings from this project can help to inform a reliable vitamin A reference value in blood for children.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

COLLESE, TATIANA S.; NORDE, MARINA M.; NASCIMENTO-FERREIRA, V, MARCUS; KIM, HANSEUL; MARCHIONI, DIRCE M.; CARVALHO, HERACLITO B.; GIOVANNUCCI, EDWARD. Which blood cutoff value should be used for vitamin A deficiency in children aged 3-10 years? A systematic review. NUTRITION REVIEWS, v. 79, n. 7, p. 777-787, JUL 2021. (19/13620-3, 16/13922-1, 17/00547-0, 16/03803-5)