Assessment of vitamin A status in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients and healthy smokers

• Published in: The American journal of clinical nutrition Vol. 64; no. 6; pp. 928 - 934
• Main Authors: Paiva, SA, Godoy, I, Vannucchi, H, Fávaro, RM, Geraldo, RR, Campana, AO
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bethesda, MD Elsevier Inc 01.12.1996; American Society for Clinical Nutrition; American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Analysis of Variance; Biological and medical sciences; Carotenoids - blood; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma; Cross-Sectional Studies; Diet - standards; Humans; Intestinal Absorption - physiology; Liver - metabolism; Longitudinal Studies; Lung - drug effects; Lung - physiology; Lung Diseases, Obstructive - blood; Lung Diseases, Obstructive - physiopathology; Lungs; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Nutritional Status; Pneumology; Respiratory diseases; Respiratory Function Tests; Smoking; Tobacco, tobacco smoking; Toxicology; Vitamin A; Vitamin A - blood; Vitamin A - metabolism; Vitamin A - pharmacology; Vitamin A Deficiency - physiopathology; Human; Lung disease; Chronic; Respiratory disease; Vitamin; Tobacco smoking; Bronchus disease; Obstructive pulmonary disease; Nutritional status; Comparative study; Retinol
• ISSN: 0002-9165; 1938-3207
• DOI: 10.1093/ajcn/64.6.928

The relation between vitamin A status and the degree of lung airway obstruction was examined in a cross-sectional study of 36 male subjects aged 43-74 y who were assigned to five groups as follows: healthy nonsmokers (n = 7), healthy smokers (n = 7), mild chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD-mild) patients (n = 9), COPD-moderate-severe patients (n = 7), and COPD-moderate-severe patients with exacerbation (+ex; n = 6). Smoking habits, pulmonary function tests, energy-protein status were assessed; serum concentrations of retinyl esters, retinol, retinol binding protein, and transthyretin and relative dose responses were measured. In addition, 12 male smokers aged 45–61 y with mild COPD were randomly assigned to two groups for a longitudinal study: six subjects consumed vitamin A (1000 RE/d; COPD-vitamin A) and six subjects received placebo for 30 d. Lowered serum retinol concentrations were found in the COPD-moderate-severe and COPD-moderate-severe+ex groups. Measurements of vitamin A status in healthy smokers and in COPD-mild patients were not different from those in healthy nonsmokers. The improvement of pulmonary function test results after vitamin A supplementation [mean increase for 1-s forced expiratory volume (FEV1) = 22.9% in the COPD-vitamin A group] may support the assumption of a local (respiratory) vitamin A deficiency in patients with this disease.