Effect of Zinc Added to Multi-vitamin Supplementation Containing
Low-dose Vitamin A on Plasma Retinol Level in Children-A Double-blind
Randomized, Controlled Trial
In a community-based double-blind randomized trial in children aged
6-35 months, both intervention and control groups received a
multi-vitamin syrup containing vitamin A, while the intervention group
had zinc gluconate (equivalent to 10 mg of elemental zinc) additional
in the syrup. There was a significant decrease in diarrhoea and
pneumonia in the intervention group. This study was undertaken to
investigate if addition of zinc to vitamin A had improved plasma
retinol levels, which, in turn, was responsible for the effects
observed in the intervention group. In a randomly-selected subsample of
200 children\u2014100 each from the intervention and the control
group, plasma retinol levels after 120 days of supplementation were
measured. There was no difference in the mean plasma retinol levels
[the difference in the mean 0.46 \u3bcg/dL (95% confidence interval
-1.42-2.36)] between the two groups following supplementation. No
difference in plasma retinol levels was observed in the subgroups based
on baseline nutritional status and plasma zinc levels. Addition of zinc
to low-dose vitamin A in this study did not improve the vitamin A
status of children and cannot explain morbidity effects of the
intervention