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CompletedNCT00082420Updated Jan 13, 2010

Retinol Equivalence of Plant Carotenoids in Children

An observational study in Vitamin A Deficiency, sponsored by National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). Completed. Open to participants aged 7 Years to 9 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2010-01-13.

Sponsored by National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) · Observational

Study type
Observational
Model
Case-only
Enrollment
32
Ages
7 Years to 9 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

To determine vitamin A value of beta-carotene in oil capsule, spinach, and golden rice.

The experiments will be conducted in children (ages 7-9) with/without adequate vitamin A nutrition. As plant provitamin A carotenoids are a major and safe vitamin A source for a vast population in the world, it is essential to determine the efficiency of provitamin A carotenoid (mainly ß-C) conversion to vitamin A. By introducing ß-C into rice endosperm, Golden Rice may directly benefit consumers by providing vitamin A nutrition. Our investigation uses hydroponically grown, deca-deuterium labeled spinach and Golden Rice, synthetic ß-C-d10 and a vitamin A isotope reference, deca-deuterated retinyl acetate (RAc-d10), to evaluate the bioavailability and the bioconversion of plant provitamin A carotenes to retinol as compared with ß-C in oil capsules in vivo.

Our objectives will be to test the following hypotheses and to make the following determinations: (1) The absorption and bio-conversion of provitamin A carotenes taken by children are different between spinach, Golden Rice, and ß-C in oil capsules. (2) The absorption of provitamin A carotenes and their bioconversion to vitamin A are different in children with or without adequate vitamin A nutrition. (3) To define the vitamin A equivalence(s) of dietary spinach, Golden Rice, and a ß-C in oil dose by using an isotope reference method in children with or without adequate vitamin A nutrition and to compare those values with values derived from model based compartmental analysis. (4) To determine the number and time of blood samples needed for future studies in various field settings on the retinol equivalence of a large number of plant sources.

This study will be of importance in planning vitamin A deficiency prevention strategies and also will provide useful information regarding the potential efficacy of a bioengineered crop to provide vitamin A nutrition.

Read the detailed description

Seventy-two children each will take two meals, lunch and supper, containing equal amounts of ß-C in labeled spinach (along with white rice), or Golden Rice (along with light colored vegetables), or ß-C oil capsules (along with white rice and light colored vegetables), every day for 7 days. Before the two meals, the volunteers will take a breakfast with a RAc-d10 dose as a reference for 7 days. The enrichment of labeled ß-C and labeled retinol in human circulation will be determined using advanced liquid chromatography / mass spectrometry and gas chromatography / mass spectrometry. Through the applications of these novel technologies, we will be able to determine the relative biological activities of endogenous carotenoids; that is, the vitamin A value of spinach, Golden Rice, and ß-C in oil capsules for children with/without vitamin A malnutrition.

02

Conditions studied

  • Vitamin A Deficiency

Keywords

  • Vitamin A malnutrition
  • low vitamin A status
03

In context

Night Blindness

58 studies on the registry are indexed under Night Blindness; 2 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 32 is below the median of 258 across 15 observational studies indexed under Night Blindness.

Browse Night Blindness studies →

Lead sponsor

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) is the lead sponsor of 529 studies on the registry; 54 are open to participants now.

Of its 79 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 50 (63%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
7 Years to 9 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes
Sampling method
Non-probability sample

Study population

healthy children with normal or marginal vitamin A nutrition

Inclusion criteria

  • 7-9 years old

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Parasitic infection
05

Study design

Observational model
Case-only
Enrollment
32 participants (actual)
06

Study locations

No study locations are listed for this record.

07

References and documents

Publications

  • Li L, Wang Y, Wu J, Zhu R. [Bioefficacy of plant carotenoid to vitamin A in school age children]. Wei Sheng Yan Jiu. 2007 Sep;36(5):547-51. Chinese. PubMed 18095563 ↗
  • Lei Li, Yin Wang, Shi-an Yin, Michael A Grusak, Robert M Russell, Guangwen Tang. Bioconversion of spinach β-carotene in Chinese children with noemal or marginal vitamin A status. FASEB J. 2006 20:A1319
08

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jan 13, 2010, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT00082420
Lead sponsor
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
First posted
May 12, 2004
Start date
Sep 2004
Completion
Nov 2005
Last update
Jan 13, 2010
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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