EFFECT ON SERUM CALCIUM OF lα‐HYDROXY‐VITAMIN D3 SUPPLEMENTATION IN INFANTS OF LOW BIRTH WEIGHT, INFANTS WITH PERINATAL ASPHYXIA, AND INFANTS OF DIABETIC MOTHERS

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Abstract
Thirty infants of low birth weight, 34 infants with perinatal asphyxia and 16 infants of diabetic mothers were investigated for early neonatal hypocalcemia. The infants were randomized into a group prophylactically given 1.alpha.-hydroxy-vitamin D3, 0.05 or 0.10 .mu.g/kg i.v. on the first 3 days of life, and an untreated control group. In infants of low birth weight and infants of diabetic mothers there were no differences in serum ion-Ca concentrations on days 2, 3, 5 and 7 between the treated and untreated groups. In infants with perinatal asphyxia, serum ion-Ca concentrations on days 5 and 7 were significantly higher in the treated than in the untreated group, while on days 2 and 3 the differences were not statistically significant. The hypocalcemia in asphyctic infants was not correlated to bicarbonate treatment, but infants with severe signs of asphyxia had lower serum ion-Ca concentrations than infants with only mild or no signs. Hypocalcemia in asphyctic infants might be explained by a decreased concentration of 1.alpha.,25-dihydroxy-vitamin D3 following reduced 1.alpha.-hydroxylation in the kidney as a consequence of anoxia during perinatal asphyxia.