title: Vitamin E in human serum and colostrum under fasting and postprandial conditions.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate alpha-tocopherol concentrations in maternal serum and colostrum under fasting and postprandial conditions.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty healthy childbearing women were recruited in a public maternity hospital, and samples of blood, fasting colostrum, and postprandial colostrum were collected from them up to 12 hours after delivery.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The serum alpha-tocopherol concentration was 1,939.8+/-766.0 microg/dL. Alpha-tocopherol levels in fasting colostrum (1,603.4+/-911.0 microg/dL) and in postprandial colostrum (1,515.0+/-890.9 microg/dL) did not demonstrate a statistically significant difference (p > 0.05). There was correlation between alpha-tocopherol levels in fasting and postprandial colostrum (p < 0.05), but not between serum and colostrum.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The lack of correlation between alpha-tocopherol levels in plasma and in colostrum, and the correlation between alpha-tocopherol concentrations in fasting and postprandial colostrum support the existence of a mechanism that controls the transfer of this nutrient, regardless of dietary intake.
authors: Departamento de Bioquímica, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal, RN, Brazil. robertod@ufrnet.br
authors: Roberto
authors: R
authors: Dimenstein
authors: Ana C P
authors: AC
authors: Medeiros
authors: Lahyana R F
authors: LR
authors: Cunha
authors: Katherine F
authors: KF
authors: Araújo
authors: Juliana C O
authors: JC
authors: Dantas
authors: Thamizy M S
authors: TM
authors: Macedo
authors: Tânia L M
authors: TL
authors: Stamford
mesh_terms: D003126:Colostrum / Q000737:chemistry*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005215:Fasting / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D049590:Postpartum Period / Q000502:physiology; D019518:Postprandial Period; D011247:Pregnancy; D024502:alpha-Tocopherol / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D024502:alpha-Tocopherol