Association of vitamin A deficiency With cervical squamous intraepithelial lesions in HIV-positive women

Researchers from Rush Medical College and other medical centers evaluated serum retinol concentrations in a group of more than 1,300 women in an effort to find a link between vitamin A deficiency and cervical squamous lesions (SILs) in HIV-positive women.

At the start, 204 women had vitamin A (retinol) deficiency and 216 had SILs, which were associated with lower retinol concentrations. Women with human papillomavirus showed an association between retinol and cervical lesions. Thus, the researchers concluded, vitamin A deficiency could contribute to cervical lesions in women with HIV.

Journal of Infectious Diseases Online (www.journals.uchicago.edu/JID) (10/00) Vol. 182, No. 4, P. 1084; French, Audrey L.; Kirstein, Lynn M.; Massad, Stewart; et al.