Effect of Vitamin E Substitution in Very Low Birth Weight Infants

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Abstract
Vitamin E supplementation was investigated in 38 very low birth weight infants after intramuscular substitution with two doses of 25 mg given on the 1st and 3rd day of life. Plasma and red cell concentrations of the biologically inactive tocopherol acetate and the active tocopherol were followed during the first month of life. Plasma levels of this substitution regime were compared with recent clinical studies. Although the applied dose was low in comparison to other studies, the levels obtained exceed the critical concentration of 12 μM which was reported to prevent retinopathy. Concentrations associated with side effects (84 μM) were found in nearly 50% of the babies but only for short duration (24 h). In more than 80% of the infants, biologically inactive tocopherol acetate was detected in plasma up to 1 day after substitution but not in red cells.