[Is it justifiable to administrate vitamin A, E and D for 6 months in the premature infants?].
Information on the vitamin A and E nutritional status in preterm infants is scarce.


METHODS
In the present prospective and longitudinal study, we measured the plasma concentrations of vitamins A, E, D and of retinol binding protein (RBP) in preterm infants (32-34 weeks of gestation) at birth, and verified whether oral supplementation with these 3 vitamins for 1, 3 and 6 months affected their plasma concentrations. The 17 consecutively recruited premature infants received daily 3000 IU of vitamin A, 5 mg of vitamin E and 1000 IU of vitamin D.


RESULTS
At birth, premature infants exhibited a low plasma concentrations of vitamin A (0.66 [0.41-0.96]) micromol/l, vitamin E (8.1 [4.2-16.9] micromol/l), RBP (0.45 [0.22-0.71] micromol/l) and 25 hydroxyvitamine D (25 OHD) (20 [20-40] nmol/l). Plasma vitamin A, E , D and RBP concentrations increased with time, but vitamin A at 1, 3 and 6 months did not attain values considered normal in term infants or adolescents. At 6 months, the plasma 25 OHD was at 92 (71-116) nmol/l, a concentration considered normal and non-toxic.


CONCLUSIONS
We recommend to increase oral administration of vitamin A to 5000 IU/day, at least for the first month of life and, thereafter to administer 3000 IU for 5 months. As for vitamin E and vitamin D, the doses used in this study are sufficient but should be administered for 6 months.
Salle
B-L
BL
Service de réanimation et de néonatologie, hôpital Edouard-Herriot, université Claude-Bernard, place d'Arsonval, 69437 Lyon cedex 03, France. bernardsalle@orange.fr
Delvin
E
E
Claris
O
O
Hascoet
J-M
JM
Levy
E
E
D019587:Dietary Supplements; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000097:blood / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000097:blood / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014810:Vitamin E / Q000097:blood / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D014801:Vitamin A; D014807:Vitamin D; D014810:Vitamin E