Dietary intake and serum concentrations of vitamin A and vitamin E and pre-eclampsia risk in Chinese pregnant women: A matched case-control study

Background: Many studies have suggested that the serum concentrations of vitamin A (VA) and vitamin E (VE) influence preeclampsia (PE) risk in pregnant women. However, few studies have assessed whether dietary intake and serum concentrations of VA and VE are correlated with PE risk.

Methods: A 1:1 matched case-control study was conducted to explore the association between the dietary intake and serum concentrations of VA and VE and the risk of PE in pregnant Chinese women. A total of 440 pregnant women with PE and 440 control pregnant women were included in the study. Dietary information was obtained using a 78-item semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Serum concentrations of VA and VE were measured by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

Results: Compared with the lowest quartile, the multivariate-adjusted odds ratios [95% confidence interval (CI)] of the highest quartiles were 0.62 (95% CI: 0.40-0.96, P trend = 0.02) for VA, 0.51 (95% CI: 0.33-0.80, P trend =0.002) for β-carotene, and 0.70 (95% CI: 0.45-1.08, P trend = 0.029) for retinol. Additionally, for serum VA and VE concentrations, the multivariate-adjusted odds ratios (95% CI) were 2.75 (95% CI: 1.24-6.13, P trend = 0.002) and 11.97 (95% CI: 4.01-35.77, P trend < 0.001), respectively. No significant association was seen between VE intake and PE risk.

Conclusions: Dietary VA intake was negatively correlated with PE risk, and serum VA and VE concentrations were positively correlated with PE risk among pregnant Chinese women.