The
acute phase response and
inflammation are associated with lower plasma
retinol concentrations, but their effect on breast milk
retinol concentrations is unclear. We measured plasma
retinol concentrations,
acute phase proteins, and breast milk
retinol concentrations in 237 breast-feeding women at 2 wk postpartum in Blantyre, Malawi; 16.5% of the women had plasma
retinol < 0.70 micromol/L and 14.8% had breast milk
retinol < 1.05 micromol/L. Among women with and without
inflammation [
alpha(1)-acid glycoprotein (AGP) > 1 g/L and/or
C-reactive protein (CRP) > 5 mg/L], geometric mean (95% CI) plasma
retinol was 0.89 (0.84, 0.94) and 1.05 (1.01, 1.17) mumol/L, respectively (P < 0.0001). Among women with and without
inflammation, geometric mean (95% CI) breast milk
retinol was 2.12 (1.89, 2.36) and 2.05 (1.75, 2.39) micromol/L, respectively (P = 0.74). In multiple linear regression models adjusting for age, parity, education, BMI, and days postpartum, plasma
retinol concentrations were associated with plasma AGP and CRP concentrations (P < 0.0001 and P = 0.01, respectively), whereas breast milk
retinol concentrations were unaffected by plasma AGP and CRP concentrations (P = 0.22 and P = 0.86, respectively). These findings suggest that breast milk
retinol concentrations are not affected by systemic
inflammation.