Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Short Communication
  • Published:

Maternal and Pediatric Nutrition Highlights Short Communication

Comparison of breast milk vitamin A concentration measured in fresh milk by a rapid field assay (the iCheck FLUORO) with standard measurement of stored milk by HPLC

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 68, pages 938–940 (2014)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Availability of rapid, point-of-contact analytical methods would facilitate the use of breast milk vitamin A concentration (BMVA) to assess vitamin A (VA) status. We compared BMVA concentrations measured by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) (the standard technique) with those by iCheck FLUORO, a new portable fluorometer that can rapidly quantify BMVA. Casual breast milk samples (n=154) were collected during a representative survey in Yaoundé and Douala, Cameroon. Milk fat and BMVA concentrations (by iCheck) were measured in fresh milk in the field. After storage at <−20 °C, BMVA concentrations were also measured by HPLC. BMVA values from the two methods were highly correlated (R2=0.72 for BMVA/l; R2=0.62 for BMVA/g fat, both P<0.0001). HPLC values were greater than iCheck values on average, and the difference increased with increasing BMVA. The iCheck FLUORO could be useful for monitoring fortification programs, but before–after surveys to assess change in BMVA concentrations should use one method consistently.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Stoltzfus RJ, Underwood BA . Breast-milk vitamin A as an indicator of the vitamin A status of women and infants. Bull World Health Organ 1995; 73: 703–711.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Schweigert FJ, Frey SK, Mothes R, Dary O, Juarez P, Lascano V . A new test kit's potential for the rapid analysis of vitamin A in human and cow milk. Sight and Life Magazine 2011; 25: 18–22.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Engle-Stone R, Ndjebayi AO, Nankap M, Brown KH . Consumption of potentially fortifiable foods by women and young children varies by ecological zone and socio-economic status in Cameroon. J Nutr 2012; 142: 555–565.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Lucas A, Gibbs J, Lyster R, Baum J . Creamatocrit: a simple clinical technique for estimating fat concentration and energy value of human milk. Br Med J 1978; 1: 1018–1020.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Lunetta J, Zulim R, Dueker S, Lin Y, Flaig V, Schneider P et al. Method for the simultaneous determination of retinol and beta-carotene concentrations in human tissues and plasma. Anal Biochem 2002; 304: 100–109.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. van Kuijk F, Handelman G, Dratz E . Rapid analysis of the major classes of retinoids by step gradient reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography using (O-ethyl) oxime derivatives. J Chromatogr 1985; 348: 241–251.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Bland JM, Altman DG . Measuring agreement in method comparison studies. Stat Methods Med Res 1999; 8: 135–160.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Engle-Stone R, Haskell MJ, Ndjebayi AO, Nankap M, Erhardt JG, Gimou M-M et al. Plasma retinol-binding protein predicts plasma retinol concentration in both infected and uninfected Cameroonian women and children. J Nutr 2011; 141: 2233–2241.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Engle-Stone R, Haskell M, Nankap M, Ndjebayi AO, Brown KH . Breast milk retinol and plasma retinol-binding protein concentrations provide similar estimates of vitamin A deficiency prevalence and identify similar risk groups among women in Cameroon but breast milk retinol underestimates the prevalence of deficiency among young children. J Nutr 2014; 144: 209–217.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank Daniela Hampel (USDA, Davis, CA, USA) for NIST formula verification. This study was supported by Sight and Life (Basel, Switzerland).

Author Contributions

RES is the guarantor of the manuscript and had full access to all the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. RES, MJH, KHB: study concept and design; RES, AON, MN: sample acquisition and field analyses; MRL: laboratory analysis; RES: data analysis and drafting of the manuscript; RES, MJH, MRL, AON, MN, KHB: critical revision of the manuscript for intellectual content.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition, Program in International and Community Nutrition, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA,

    R Engle-Stone, M J Haskell & K H Brown

  2. USDA Western Human Nutrition Research Center, Davis, CA, USA

    M R La Frano

  3. Helen Keller International, Yaoundé, Cameroon,

    A O Ndjebayi & M Nankap

Authors
  1. R Engle-Stone
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. M J Haskell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. M R La Frano
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. A O Ndjebayi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. M Nankap
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. K H Brown
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to R Engle-Stone.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Engle-Stone, R., Haskell, M., La Frano, M. et al. Comparison of breast milk vitamin A concentration measured in fresh milk by a rapid field assay (the iCheck FLUORO) with standard measurement of stored milk by HPLC. Eur J Clin Nutr 68, 938–940 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2014.63

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2014.63

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links