Long-term alpha-tocopherol supplements may improve mental development in extremely low birthweight infants.
OBJECTIVE
Methods to improve the mental development of extremely low birthweight (ELBW) children are currently lacking. We assessed the effects of long-term supplementation of alpha-tocopherol on the neurological development of 259 school-aged ELBW children.


METHODS
Extremely low birthweight participants were divided into three groups: group A with no alpha-tocopherol supplementation (n = 121); group B with the supplementation for <6 months (n = 104) and group C with the supplementation for more than 6 months (n = 34). We analysed the participants' data at birth and between the ages of one-and-a-half to 8 years and evaluated potential factors associated with intellectual disabilities.


RESULTS
Children from group C had the best outcome. The groups' mean gestational weeks and mean ventilator days were as follows: 27.5 weeks, 16.1 days (group A); 25.7 weeks, 41.7 days (group B); and 25.1 weeks, 75.5 days (group C). Multivariate regression analysis revealed that the odds ratios for impaired mental development at 8 years were 1.5 in group B and 0.19 (p = 0.017) in group C, compared with 1.0 in group A. The association between the duration of alpha-tocopherol administration and performance intelligence quotient (IQ) was dose dependent (p = 0.03).


CONCLUSIONS
Long-term supplementation of alpha-tocopherol appeared to improve mental development, in particular, performance IQ, in school-aged ELBW children.
Department of Neonatal Medicine, Osaka Medical Center and Research Institute for Maternal and Child Health, Izumi, Japan.
Hiroyuki
H
Kitajima
Tadahiro
T
Kanazawa
Rintaro
R
Mori
Shinya
S
Hirano
Tohru
T
Ogihara
Masanori
M
Fujimura
D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000187:drug effects*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D052577:Infant, Extremely Low Birth Weight / Q000254:growth & development*; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D024502:alpha-Tocopherol / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D024502:alpha-Tocopherol
Alpha-tocopherol; Extremely low birthweight; Mental development; Synapse elimination; Vitamin E deficiency