title: Treatment of vitamin E deficiency during chronic childhood cholestasis with oral d-alpha-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol-1000 succinate.
abstract: Treatment of vitamin E deficiency during chronic childhood cholestasis is hampered by the poor intestinal absorption of available oral preparations of vitamin E when bile flow is severely impaired; thus parenteral vitamin E has been the only effective therapy for many children with this problem. We studied the intestinal absorption, efficacy, and safety of a water-soluble oral form of vitamin E, d-alpha-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate (TPGS), in 22 children (7 mo to 19 yr old) with severe cholestasis and vitamin E deficiency who were unresponsive to massive oral doses (100-200 IU/kg.day) of dl-alpha-tocopherol. The results of oral vitamin E tolerance tests showed that TPGS was well absorbed in virtually all study subjects, that TPGS intestinal absorption was superior to that of dl-alpha-tocopherol, and that TPGS absorption in teenage children with chronic cholestasis was similar to that of normal adults. In addition, 1.7% +/- 1.6% (mean +/- SD) of the administered polyethylene glycol 1000 contained in the TPGS was absorbed and excreted in the urine of the 13 subjects analyzed, compared with 3.0% +/- 1.3% in 4 normal adults. A chronic oral dose of 15-25 IU/kg.day of TPGS corrected the biochemical vitamin E deficiency state over 1-19 mo (mean, 10.6 mo) of TPGS therapy. No clinical or biochemical evidence of gastrointestinal, renal, hepatic, or hematologic toxicity was demonstrated. This study suggests that TPGS administered orally in a dose of 15-25 IU/kg.day may be a safe and effective form of vitamin E for prevention and correction of vitamin E deficiency during severe childhood cholestasis.
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D002648:Child; D002779:Cholestasis / Q000150:complications*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007408:Intestinal Absorption; D008297:Male; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D014810:Vitamin E / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014811:Vitamin E Deficiency / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology
chemical_list: D014810:Vitamin E; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; C014225:tocophersolan