Oral vitamin A, E and D supplementation of pre-term newborns either breast-fed or formula-fed: a 3-month longitudinal study.
BACKGROUND
In contrast to the studies of vitamin A and E status in children, adolescents and adults, information on preterm infants is scarce. In the present investigation we examined the vitamin A, D and E status of pre-term infants at birth, and verified whether, at 1 and 3 months, breast or formula feeding affected the plasma concentration of those vitamins while being supplemented with Uvesterol ADEC.


METHODS
In this prospective study, 2 groups of consecutively recruited preterm newborns fed either breast milk or formula received 3000 IU of vitamin A, 5 IU of vitamin E and 1000 IU of vitamin D daily. Vitamin A and E were measured by high performance liquid chromatography and spectrophotometry. 25-hydroxyvitamin D, a surrogate marker for vitamin D status, was measured by radioimmunoassay, and retinol binding-protein concentration was measured by immunonephelometry.


RESULTS
At birth, formula-fed and breast-milk fed infants had similar plasma concentrations of vitamin A (0.75 +/- 0.20 and 0.64 +/- 0.21 micromol/L, ns), 25-hydroxyvitamin D (34.4 +/- 25.6 and 47.5 +/- 26.7 nmol/L, ns) and vitamin E (9.5 +/- 3.2 and 8.4 +/- 3.3 micromol/L, ns). Vitamins A and E, and retinol binding-protein concentrations steadily increased with time in both groups of infants without attaining, at 3 months, values considered normal in term infants and in young children. At 3 months of age, concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D reached values comparable to those observed in term infants.


CONCLUSIONS
Plasma concentrations of vitamins A and E and of retinol binding-protein steadily increased during the the study without reaching full repletion values. At the conclusion of the study, the type of nutrition did not affect plasma vitamin concentrations.
Delvin
Edgard E
EE
Département de Biochimie Clinique, Hôpital Ste-Justine, Montréal, Canada. edgard.devlin@recherche-ste-justine.qc.ca
Salle
Bernard L
BL
Claris
Olivier
O
Putet
Guy
G
Hascoet
Jean-Michel
JM
Desnoulez
Laure
L
Messai
Sam
S
Lévy
Emile
E
D000328:Adult; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000378:metabolism; D001942:Breast Feeding; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D041943:Infant Formula; D007227:Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D007231:Infant, Newborn / Q000097:blood* / Q000254:growth & development; D007234:Infant, Premature; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008895:Milk, Human; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000097:blood; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000097:blood; D014810:Vitamin E / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000097:blood
D000975:Antioxidants; D014801:Vitamin A; D014807:Vitamin D; D014810:Vitamin E