Vitamina A în sarcină

Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin which does not only perform a lot of systemic functions, but also plays an important role in organogenesis. There are three active forms of vitamin A: retinol, retinal and retinoic acid. Vitamin A deficiency is the main preventable cause of blindness worldwide and the primary cause of childhood morbidity and mortality in the developing world. Maternal vitamin A deficiency during pregnancy is associated with high rates of maternal and infant mortality and with a significant risk of premature birth, miscarriage or fetal death. Both deficiency and hypervitaminosis A during pregnancy are associated with congenital malformations, but the teratogenic effect was described only for a daily intake of more than 10,000 IU of preformed vitamin A supplements. In conclusion, vitamin A supplementation is recommended only for pregnant women from areas with endemic avitaminosis A, in order to prevent nyctalopia.