• Cristiane Santos Sânzio Gurgel, Larisa Alves de Araújo Pereira, Aldiane de Assis Costa, Mayara Adja da Silva Souza, Poliana Araújo de Brito, Larisse Rayanne Miranda de Melo, and Roberto Dimenstein.
• Postgraduate Program in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil. Electronic address: Cristianesanziogurgel@gmail.com.
• Nutrition. 2017 Jan 1; 33: 261-265.

ObjectiveThe aim of the present study was to assess the effect of multivitamin supplements and their different vitamin A sources on retinol concentrations in serum and colostrum milk of postpartum women.MethodsThis was a retrospective cross-sectional study composed of healthy postpartum women attending two Brazilian private maternity wards (N = 100). According to the type of multivitamin taken during pregnancy, the women were assigned to one of four groups: control group (CG; n = 25), formulation 1 (F1; n = 25), formulation 2 (F2; n = 25), and formulation 3 (F3; n = 25). Blood and colostrum samples were collected under fasting conditions and retinol was analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography. Dietary vitamin A was assessed using a food frequency questionnaire. Retinol concentrations <20 μg/dL (<0.70 μmol/L) in serum and <60 μg/dL (2.10 μmol/L) in colostrum were considered indicative of vitamin A deficiency.ResultsOf women in the control group, 12% (n = 3) presented serum retinol levels below the cut-off value for adequacy; this was not observed in the supplemented groups. Evaluating the retinol content in breast milk, supplemented groups F1 and F3 presented 4% (n = 1) of inadequacy cases, whereas F2 presented 40% (n = 10). The concentrations found in the F2 and F3 groups were statistically different (P < 0.05).ConclusionsThe use of multivitamin supplements containing vitamin A during pregnancy prevents vitamin A deficiency regardless of the source administered. In breast milk, supplementation with β-carotene provided a lower concentration of vitamin A compared with retinol.Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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