title: Vitamin E measurement in patients receiving intravenous lipid emulsions.
abstract: Two methods for the determination of plasma vitamin E--high-pressure liquid chromatography and spectrophotofluorometry--were compared on samples from four groups of pediatric patients: children and infants receiving lipid emulsion as part of their parenteral nutrition regimen, neonates receiving parenteral nutrition who were not receiving lipid emulsion at the time of blood sampling, and short admission surgery control subjects. In control subjects and patients not receiving lipid emulsions, both methods yielded similar results for vitamin E as alpha-tocopherol. In contrast, in patients receiving lipid emulsion, the fluorometric method yielded values ranging from 200% to 300% greater than did high-pressure liquid chromatography. The source of the discrepancy is most probably the presence of naturally occurring non-alpha-tocopherol isomers in the lipid products, which add to the fluorescent measurement but are resolved by high-pressure liquid chromatography. This study confirms clinically that fluorescent measurement of vitamin E is no longer the method of choice for monitoring tocopherol status in intensive care nurseries.
authors.affiliation: Division of Digestive Diseases and Nutrition, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles.
authors.forename: D H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Henton
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Merritt
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hack
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D005217:Fat Emulsions, Intravenous / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D010288:Parenteral Nutrition; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence; D014810:Vitamin E / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D005217:Fat Emulsions, Intravenous; D014810:Vitamin E