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Erythrocyte Riboflavin for the Detection of Riboflavin Deficiency in Pregnant Nepali Women

¹ United States Department of Agriculture–Western Human Nutrition Research Center, University of California, Davis, CA; ² Program in International Nutrition, Department of Nutrition, University of California, Davis, CA; ³ Nepali Technical Assistance Group, Maitighar, Kathmandu, Nepal;

^aaddress correspondence to this author at: United States Department of Agriculture–Western Human Nutrition Research Center, University of California, Davis, CA 95616; fax 530-752-3973, e-mail lhallen@ucdavis.edu

The first 300 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Riboflavin deficiency is common among chronic alcoholics, the elderly, and vegetarians (1)(2)(3)(4), but intake in the United States is generally adequate(5)(6), unlike the widespread deficiency in regions of the world with limited animal food sources(7)(8). Riboflavin status has been assessed from measurements in urine, plasma, and erythrocytes(9)(10)(11). The erythrocyte glutathione reductase activity coefficient (EGRAC) is the commonly used test and reflects the adequacy of riboflavin to support enzyme function(10). In this assay, the stimulation of erythrocyte glutathione reductase by FAD is measured in vitro, and a higher activity coefficient reflects a larger amount of unsaturated glutathione reductase apo-enzyme resulting from lack of FAD. The EGRAC cutoffs(12) are based on observational studies in well-nourished American school children (n = 431) and adult men (n = 6) and a depletion–repletion study in Indian adults (n = 8)(13)(14)(15). These cutoffs are usually 1.4 for deficiency status, 1.2 to <1.4 for marginal status, and <1.2 for acceptable status.

Although erythrocyte riboflavin concentration is seldom used to assess riboflavin status, Hustad et al. (16) showed that the sum of erythrocyte flavin mononucleotide and FAD is correlated with the EGRAC and might be a useful indicator of riboflavin status in population studies. The elderly Irish persons (n = 122) in their study had marginal riboflavin status (mean EGRAC, 1.26), but no erythrocyte riboflavin cutoffs were evaluated. In healthy Californian adults (n = 22), we previously determined the 5th percentile of erythrocyte riboflavin concentration to be 170 nmol/L (range, 169–289 nmol/L) but did not measure the EGRAC in the same samples (L.H. Allen, unpublished data).

The purpose of our study was to compare . . . [Full Text of this Article]

The following articles in journals at HighWire Press have cited this article:

				J. M Graham, M. J Haskell, P. Pandey, R. K Shrestha, K. H Brown, and L. H Allen Supplementation with iron and riboflavin enhances dark adaptation response to vitamin A-fortified rice in iron-deficient, pregnant, nightblind Nepali women Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, May 1, 2007; 85(5): 1375 - 1384. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]