Vitamin A liver store: a case-control study.

The present study aims to assess the vitamin A liver store in individuals who died of several causes and to compare them with those who died of violent causes. A case-control study was performed with 60 individuals, where 30 died of violent causes (control) and 30 of other causes (cardiovascular diseases, infections, other chronic degenerative diseases, several causes). According to the cause of death, the mean retinol from liver stores was 281.5 +/- 63.50 mg/g for individuals who died of violent causes--a significantly higher amount (P < 0.05) than those observed in the other group (105.4 +/- 87.54 mg/g by cardiovascular diseases, 88.1 +/-78.03 mg/g by infections, 162.4 +/- 119.19 mg/g by other chronic degenerative diseases and 205.5 + 126.63 mg/g by several causes). The highest prevalence of low vitamin A was observed in individuals who died of infections and cardiovascular diseases, which emphasizes the role of vitamin A in these pathological processes.