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Community and International Nutrition

HIV-1 Infection Alters the Retinol-Binding Protein:Transthyretin Ratio Even in the Absence of the Acute Phase Response¹

Jared M. Baeten^*,2, Mark H. Wener^,**, Daniel D. Bankson, Ludo Lavreys^*, Barbra A. Richardson, Kishorchandra Mandaliya, Job J. Bwayo and R. Scott McClelland^*,**

Departments of ^* Epidemiology, Laboratory Medicine, ^** Medicine, and Biostatistics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA; Coast Provincial General Hospital, Mombasa, Kenya; and the Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya

² To whom correspondence should be addressed at the Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA. E-mail: jbaeten{at}u.washington.edu.

The ratio of retinol-binding protein (RBP) to transthyretin (TTR) has been proposed as an indirect method with which to assess vitamin A status in the context of inflammation. Few studies have been conducted among adults, and none examined the effect of HIV-1 infection. Our goal was to assess the RBP:TTR ratio among adults, including the effects of HIV-1 and the acute phase response. We used data from a cross-sectional study of 600 Kenyan women, of whom 400 had HIV-1. The effect of vitamin A supplementation among the HIV-1–infected participants was subsequently assessed in a randomized trial. Among HIV-1–uninfected women without an acute phase response, a RBP:TTR cut-off value of 0.25 had 80% sensitivity and specificity to detect vitamin A deficiency (retinol <0.70 µmol/L). No RBP:TTR cut-off value demonstrated both high sensitivity and specificity among HIV-1 infected women without evidence of inflammation. HIV-1 infection and advanced HIV-1 disease were associated with higher RBP:TTR ratios. The effect of HIV-1 was independent of the acute phase response, which also increased the RBP:TTR ratio. Serum retinol increased with vitamin A supplementation among those with a low RBP:TTR ratio, although the effect was small and was not present among those with concurrent inflammation. Thus, the RBP:TTR ratio has modest ability to predict vitamin A deficiency among healthy adults, but HIV-1 infection alters the ratio, even in the absence of the acute phase response. Our results raise questions about the utility of this measurement given the high prevalence of HIV-1 infection in areas where vitamin A deficiency is common.

KEY WORDS: • vitamin A status • retinol-binding protein • transthyretin • HIV • inflammation