[Vitamin A in the serum of healthy probands and clinical groups]

The estimation of vitamin A in serum of patients suffering from different diseases (M. Crohn, Hypothyroidism, Hyperthyroidism, Liver cirrhosis, Renal insufficiency, Carcinoma of Prostate, ENT-Carcinomas) and healthy controls by means of a recent developed method (HPLC) is reported. Decreased and increased vitamin A serum levels had been reported in literature during different diseases but we could not reveal identical results in all cases. Significantly lowered values were only estimated in patients suffering from liver cirrhosis whereas increased vitamin A serum levels were determined during renal insufficiency. In hypo- or hyperthyroidism there was no difference from healthy persons. In patients with Crohn's disease the distribution of vitamin A concentrations in serum was bimodal, probably depending on extension and localization of the process. Patients with carcinoma of the prostate had only minor deviations from the normal value, whereas patients with tumors of the larynx had in part very low vitamin A concentrations with a bimodal distribution. Causes for the deviations and consequences for the assessment of the vitamin A status of patients under intravenous alimentation are discussed.