Highlights:
- Increasing vitamin A intake may improve depressive symptoms in patients with HF.
- Intakes of 731.38 µg or more per day were significantly associated with reduced odds of depressive symptoms.
Increasing vitamin A intake can help reduce depression in patients with heart failure, according to a cross-sectional study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. ESC: Heart failure.
According to a report from the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, foods high in vitamin A include green leafy vegetables, orange and yellow vegetables, tomatoes, red peppers, cantaloupe, mangoes, beef liver, fish oil, milk, eggs, and fortified foods.
“Besides the physical burden, patients with heart failure frequently experience psychological symptoms such as depression. Depression is a common comorbidity in patients with heart failure, with prevalence rates ranging from 9.7% to 45.5%. Depression may have a negative impact on heart failure prognosis.” Lu WangResearchers from the Department of Cardiology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Changchun University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Changchun, China, wrote: “Vitamin A, a fat-soluble micronutrient, plays important roles in various physiological processes, including vision, immune function, and cell growth and differentiation. An inverse correlation has been reported between vitamin A and depression. … Although the relationship between vitamin A intake and depression has been investigated in the general population, the relationship in patients with HF remains unclear.”
HF, patients with depression
To evaluate the association between vitamin A intake and depression in patients with HF, Wang and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional study using National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data from 2007 to 2020. The analysis included 999 adult NHANES participants with HF and information on vitamin A intake and depression assessments (mean age 66 years, 48% female, 70% white, 60% obese).
Overall, 19.72% of participants experienced depressive symptoms.
Depressed participants were younger, more likely to have less than a college education, and more likely to be obese, smoke and drink alcohol, take antihypertensive medication, and report having sleep problems than non-depressed participants.
Vitamin A intake and the likelihood of depression
The researchers observed that approximately 85% of people with depression reported a daily vitamin A intake of less than 731.38 µg.
Wang et al. found that compared with patients with low daily intakes of vitamin A, patients with increased daily intakes of vitamin A were less likely to have depression, with a significant increase above 731.38 µg per day.
- 256.89 to <463.53 µg per day (OR = 0.71; 95% CI, 0.39-1.26; P = .236);
- 463.53 µg to <731.38 µg per day (OR = 0.54; 95% CI, 0.25 to 1.13; P = .099); and
- ≥731.38 µg per day (OR = 0.37; 95% CI, 0.18-0.76; P = .007).
Furthermore, among participants aged 65 years or older with HF, males, and those with hyperlipidemia or chronic kidney disease, a daily vitamin A intake of 731.38 µg or more was associated with a significantly lower odds of depression compared with lower intakes.
“Vitamin A acts as an antioxidant, protecting against oxidative damage and reducing inflammation by inhibiting the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. By mitigating these processes, vitamin A may help reduce the incidence of depression in patients with HF,” the researchers wrote.
“Vitamin A is involved in regulating various hormones, including cortisol and thyroid hormones, which are known to be related to depression. Chronic stress, common in patients with heart failure, may disrupt the regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, leading to elevated cortisol levels,” the researchers wrote. “Adequate vitamin A intake may contribute to optimal thyroid function and reduce the risk of depression in patients with heart failure.”
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