Serum vitamin A concentration is elevated in idiopathic intracranial hypertension.

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Publication Type Journal Article
School or College School of Medicine
Department Ophthalmology; Neurosurgery; Neurology
Creator Digre, Kathleen B.
Other Author Jacobson, Daniel M.; Berg, Rebecca; Wall, M.; Corbett, James J.; Ellefson, Ralph D.
Title Serum vitamin A concentration is elevated in idiopathic intracranial hypertension.
Date 2007-02-01
Description OBJECTIVE: The primary purpose was to investigate whether serum vitamin A concentration is associated with idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH). The secondary aim was to obtain pilot data regarding the amount of vitamin A ingested by patients and controls. BACKGROUND: Vitamin A is an attractive candidate mediator of IIH as many of the symptoms and signs of hypervitaminosis A mimic those of IIH. METHODS: We prospectively determined serum retinol and retinyl ester concentration in 16 women with IIH and 70 healthy young women. Using a survey instrument, we also determined the average daily vitamin A ingestion in a convenience sample of patients and controls. RESULTS: Serum retinol concentration was significantly higher in the patient group (median 752 ug/L) compared with the control group (median 530 ug/L), even after adjusting for age and body mass index (p < 0.001). Retinyl ester concentration, however, was similar in the patient (median 48 ug/L) and control (median 41 ug/L) groups (p = 0.32). There was no significant correlation between serum retinol concentration and body mass index in the patients (r = 0.16) or controls (r = -0.02). Finally, there was no significant difference in the amounts of vitamin A ingested by the patients or controls, although the small number of subjects in both groups reduced the power of this conclusion. CONCLUSIONS: Elevated serum retinol concentration is associated with IIH. Obesity, by itself, does not explain these higher levels. Patients may ingest an abnormally large amount of vitamin A, metabolize it abnormally, or be unusually sensitive to its effects. Alternatively, elevated level of serum retinol may reflect an epiphenomenon of another variable we did not measure or a nonspecific effect of elevated retinol binding capacity.
Type Text
Publisher Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins
Volume 53
Issue 5
First Page 1114
Last Page 1118
Subject Vitamin A; Retinol; Idiopathic intracranial hypertension; Chromatography
Subject MESH Vitamin A; Intracranial Hypertension; Chromatography
Language eng
Bibliographic Citation Jacobson DM, Berg R, Wall M, Digre KB, Corbett JJ, Ellefson RD. Serum vitamin A concentration is elevated in idiopathic intracranial hypertension. Neurology. 1999 Sep 22;53(5):1114-8. Retrieved on February 26th 2007 from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?CMD=Display&DB=pubmed
Rights Management Copyright © Wolters Kluwer, [Neurology, 38, 1114-8, 1999
Format Medium application/pdf
Identifier ir-main,808
ARK ark:/87278/s6nw02tz
Setname ir_uspace
ID 706620
Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6nw02tz
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