Table 3.
Main effects of Vitamin A (VA) oral administration in the prevention and management of viral infections by virus family.
| Author, Year | Intervention | Prevention | Management | Side Effects | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virological Response | Immunological Response | Clinical Response/Others | ||||
| Caliciviridae | ||||||
| Long, 2007 [43] Long, 2011 [44] |
Group I: VA Group II: placebo |
Non-significant difference in incidence of NoV-GI infections Significant lower incidence in NoV-GII infections in Group I |
Significant higher duration of NoV-GI and NoV-GII shedding in Group I | Significant higher fecal TNF-α and IL-4 concentration in Group I during NoV-GI infections Significant lower fecal MCP-1 and TNF-α concentration in Group I during NoV-GII infections |
Significant lower incidence of all NoV-associated diarrheal disease and diarrhea associated with GI and GII infections in Group I Non-significant difference in the incidence of NoV-associated fever |
NA |
| Flaviviridae | ||||||
| Okita, 2014 [45] | Group I: VA (600 mg) Group II: VA (300 mg) Group III: placebo |
NA | NA | NA | Significant higher RFS in Group I vs. III Non-significant difference in RFS in Group II vs. III |
Mild, moderate, or serious side effects in relation to VA dosage |
| Papillomaviridae | ||||||
| Georgala, 2004 [46] | Group I: VA Group II: placebo |
NA | NA | NA | Significant higher clearance of cervical lesions in Group I |
Mild or moderate side effects in Group I |
| Olguin-Garcıa, 2014 [47] |
Group I: VA Group II: placebo |
NA | NA | NA | Significant higher clearance of facial lesions in Group I |
Mild or moderate side effects in Group I |
| Kaur, 2017 [48] | Group I: VA Group II: topical VA 0.05% in gel |
NA | NA | NA | Significant greater clearance of lesions (number and timing) in Group I |
Mild or moderate side effects in both groups |
| Pneumoviridae | ||||||
| Pinnock, 1988 [42] | Group I: VA Group II: placebo |
Non-significant difference in number of episodes and duration of respiratory illness | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Breese, 1996 [40] | Group I: VA Group II: placebo |
NA | NA | NA | Non-significant difference in oxygen requirement, need for steroids, ribavirin, ICU care or mechanical ventilation Significant longer hospital stay and lower proportion of patients discharged within 48 h in Group I |
Non-significant difference in side effects occurrence |
| Dowell, 1996 [41] | Group I: VA Group II: placebo |
NA | NA | NA | Non-significant difference in duration of hospitalization, oxygen requirement and time to resolve hypoxemia Significant more rapid resolution of tachypnea and shorter duration of hospitalization in Group I among children with severe hypoxemia at admission |
None |
| Quinlan, 1996 [49] | Group I: VA Group II: placebo |
NA | NA | NA | Non-significant difference in daily severity score, hospital stay, need for ICU care or oxygen requirement | None |
ICU: intensive care unit. IL-4: interleukin 4. MCP-1: monocyte chemoattractant protein-1. NA: Not Assessed. NoV-GI: norovirus genogroups I. NoV-GII: norovirus genogroups II. RFS: recurrence free survival. TNF-α: Tumor necrosis factor alfa.