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Review
. 2020 Aug 24;4(10):nzaa142.
doi: 10.1093/cdn/nzaa142. eCollection 2020 Oct.

Vitamin A Requirements in Pregnancy and Lactation

Bryan M Gannon  1 , Camille Jones  1 , Saurabh Mehta  1
Affiliations
Review

Vitamin A Requirements in Pregnancy and Lactation

Bryan M Gannon et al. Curr Dev Nutr. .

Abstract

Pregnancy and lactation are critical life stages with unique nutritional requirements, including for vitamin A (VA). Current DRIs for VA were published in 2001. The objective of this review was to identify and categorize evidence related to VA requirements in pregnancy and lactation since these DRIs were formulated. We searched MEDLINE and included articles according to an analytic framework of maternal VA exposure on status and health outcomes in the mother-child dyad. Intermediate and indirect evidence supports that maternal VA intakes can impact the mother's VA status, breastmilk, and health outcomes, as well as the child's VA status and select health outcomes. Food-based approaches can lead to more sustained, sufficient VA status in mothers and children. Research needs include further study linking maternal VA intakes on maternal and child VA status, and further associations with outcomes to determine intake requirements to optimize health.

Keywords: Dietary Reference Intakes; Nutrient Reference Values; breastfeeding; lactation; pregnancy; vitamin A.

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Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Analytic framework to assess vitamin A requirements in the mother-child dyad. Investigated or biologically plausible associations are represented as arrows between components. Surrogate outcomes are strongly correlated with clinical outcomes, for example, night blindness as a surrogate outcome for xerophthalmia for vitamin A. Changes in indicator markers or surrogate outcomes are expected to reflect changes in clinical outcomes. The analytic framework was used to determine article relevance to the review objective and also categorize synthesis of results from included articles. *Indicator markers include biomarkers reflecting deficiency, adequacy, or excess nutrient status, for vitamin A corresponding to serum/plasma retinol or retinol-binding protein, relative dose–response, modified relative dose–response, and total body stores of vitamin A. Breastmilk is used both as an indicator marker for women and also as the component linking maternal exposure to child exposure during lactation.
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