Background: Little information on the micronutrient status of HIV-infected (HIV-positive) breastfeeding women is available.
Objective: The objective was to compare the protein and micronutrient status of South African breastfeeding women by HIV status.
Design: Serum albumin, prealbumin, vitamin B-12, folate, retinol, alpha-tocopherol, hemoglobin, ferritin, and zinc concentrations were compared between 92 HIV-positive and 52 HIV-uninfected (HIV-negative) mothers 6, 14, and 24 wk after delivery. C-reactive protein and alpha1-acid glycoprotein were used as proxy indicators of an inflammatory process.
Results: Mean albumin and prealbumin were significantly lower in HIV-positive mothers, and a higher proportion of HIV-positive mothers had low albumin concentrations (< 35 g/L). Less than 45% of the mothers were vitamin B-12 or folate sufficient. Significantly more HIV-positive (70.5%) than HIV-negative (46.2%) mothers had marginal vitamin B-12 status (P < 0.05), and mean folate concentrations were lower in HIV-positive mothers (P = 0.05). Mean serum retinol was significantly lower in HIV-positive mothers, even after control for the acute phase response. At 24 wk, 70% of both groups had an alpha-tocopherol deficiency (< 11.6 micromol/L), but no significant difference by HIV status was observed. More HIV-positive (33.3%) than HIV-negative (8.7%) mothers had anemia (P = 0.018), whereas 25% of all mothers had low serum ferritin concentrations. After the acute phase response was controlled for, zinc deficiency was more common in HIV-positive (45.0%) than in HIV-negative (25.0%) mothers (P = 0.05).
Conclusions: Deficiencies in vitamins B-12, folate, alpha-tocopherol, ferritin, and zinc are common in South African breastfeeding mothers. HIV-positive mothers had lower mean serum concentrations of albumin, prealbumin, folate, retinol, and hemoglobin than did HIV-negative mothers.