Influência da idade gestacional e da paridade sobre a concentra？？o de retinol no colostro humano

vitamin a is particularly important during the critical periods of growth, proliferation and development of tissues such as pregnancy, neonatal period and childhood. this study aims to evaluate the influence of maternal variables such as gestational age and parity, on the levels of retinol in colostrum and verify that the concentration of vitamin a in the colostrum of those mothers provides the recommended amount of this micronutrient for newborns. we recruited 84 healthy pregnant women attended at a brazilian public hospital. retinol concentrations in colostrum were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography. the retinol in colostrum from mothers at term (n = 49) and preterm (n = 35) showed values of 111.3 ± 12.4 μg/dl and 79.2 ± 10.6 μg/dl ( p <0.0001), respectively, and retinol concentration in colostrum from primiparous (n = 40) (82.5 ± 8.8 μg/dl) and multiparous (n = 44) (116.9 ± 10.3 μg/dl) was also statistically different (p <0.0001). retinol levels in colostrum at term and those whose mothers had one or more than one child in this study meet the needs of the child (400 μg retinol/day). however, levels of retinol in colostrum of preterm infants are not consistent with the recommendations of the dri for premature infants, which is 420 μg retinol/day. these results demonstrate the need to supplement with vitamin a preterm mothers to ensure an adequate supply of this vitamin to the newborn.