HIV POSITIVE  & Nutrition
Vitamin-A Deficiency Linked To Risk Of Vertical HIV Transmission


Findings from a multicenter study indicate that severe vitamin-A deficiency increases the risk of maternal-infant transmission among HIV-positive women.

Dr. Barbara L. Greenberg of the Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, New York, and colleagues evaluated serum vitamin-A levels in 133 HIV-positive women during the third trimester of pregnancy. All of the women delivered live infants whose HIV serostatus was known. Of the 44 women who transmitted HIV to their infant, 7 (16%) had severe vitamin A deficiency compared with only 5 out of the 89 nontransmitting women (6%).

Other risk factors for increased maternal-infant transmission in this study included Cesarean section and preterm delivery.

Although vitamin-A deficiency is generally regarded as infrequent in the United States, this study suggests that vitamin-A deficiency is relatively common (30%) among inner city HIV-infected women, adding that pregnancy, low economic status and race may be associated with vitamin-A deficiency. However, it is still not clear whether vitamin-A deficiency in HIV-infected pregnant women augments maternal-infant transmission or is a marker for advanced HIV disease.

The results of four ongoing clinical trials in sub-Saharan Africa in which HIV-positive pregnant women are receiving vitamin-A supplements may determine if this can reduce the vertical HIV transmission rate.


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