OBJECTIVES: to compile the results of Brazilian studies that investigated the vitamin A content of human milk. SOURCES: the searches were performed at LILACS, Banco de Teses da Capes, SciELO (Scientific Electronic Library), and Plataforma Lattes databases. The search strategy was: pregnant, lactating, human milk vitamin A concentration, Brazil. The searches were done in 2006 and updated in March 2008. SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS: fourteen studies published between 1988 and 2008 were located. These studies were heterogeneous in terms of sample size, milk phase, time of collection and method for determining vitamin A concentrations. The study outcomes described average vitamin A concentrations in human milk ranging from 0.62 to 4.50 µmol/L. CONCLUSIONS: there was no consensus as to the relationship between the vitamin A content of human milk and a diet with a suitable vitamin A content, maternal nutritional status, maternal obstetric and demographical characteristics and duration of pregnancy. The review indicates that future studies should use casual samples of mature milk, and use high performance liquid chromatography - HPLC - as the laboratory technique in order to quantify vitamin A.
Vitamin A; Milk, human; Vitamin A deficiency; Breast feeding
