Vitamin A and E Nutritional Status in Relation to Leptin, Adiponectin, IGF-I and IGF-II in Early Life - a Birth Cohort Study

The metabolic health effects of vitamin A and E nutritional status in early life are largely unknown. We assessed whether vitamin A and vitamin E nutritional status may affect circulating leptin, adiponectin, insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I and IGF-II levels in early life in humans. In a singleton birth cohort (n = 248), vitamin A and E nutritional status in fetuses/newborns were assessed by cord plasma concentrations of retinol, β-carotene, α- and γ-tocopherols. The primary outcomes were cord plasma leptin, adiponectin, IGF-I and IGF-II concentrations. Cord plasma retinol was significantly positively correlated to IGF-I in girls (r = 0.42, P < 0.0001) but not in boys (r = 0.14, P = 0.11). Adjusting for maternal and newborn’s characteristics, one log unit increase in cord plasma retinol was associated with a 28.0% (95% CI: 11.1–47.5%) increase in IGF-I in girls (P < 0.001) but not in boys (P = 0.75). One log unit increment in cord plasma α-tocopherol was associated with a 6.6% (0.4–12.3%) decrease in adiponectin (P = 0.04), while one log unit increment in cord plasma γ-tocopherol was associated with a 21.2% (4.7–34.8%) decrease in leptin (P = 0.01). There may be a sex-specific association between retinol and IGF-I, a negative association between α-tocopherol and adiponectin, and a negative association between γ-tocopherol and leptin in early life in humans.