The Effect of Vitamin A and Retinol-Binding Protein Levels in Cord Blood of Very Low Birth Weight Infants on Mortality and Morbidity.

Vitamin A is a fat-soluble micronutrient essential for normal embryonic development, cell differentiation, growth, vision, immunity and reproduction. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of vitamin A and retinol-binding protein levels in cord blood of babies born at or below the 31st gestational week on respiratory distress syndrome, intraventricular haemorrhage, necrotising enterocolitis, retinopathy of prematurity and bronchopulmonary dysplasia and mortality.Babies born between 25 0/7 and 30 6/7 gestational weeks were included in the study between January 2021 and December 2022. Blood samples were obtained from the cord blood for retinol and retinol-binding protein levels.Sixty preterm infants born between 25 0/7 and 30 6/7 gestational weeks were included in this study. The mean vitamin A level was 244±140 µg/L and the mean retinol-binding protein level was 1.7±0.4 mg/dL. Among premature infants, 43% had low vitamin A levels and 38% had low retinol-binding protein levels. The retinol-binding protein level was found to be significantly lower in babies with retinopathy of prematurity compared with babies without retinopathy of prematurity (p<0.05).In our study in which we investigated the effect of vitamin A and retinol-binding protein levels on morbidity and mortality in preterm infants, we showed that retinopathy of prematurity increased with low retinol-binding protein levels in cord blood. Further studies by evaluating the retinol-binding protein level together with the vitamin A level in the later days of life in response to vitamin A supplementation may more accurately show the effect of vitamin A on neonatal morbidities.