Studies on the tocopherol status in blood serum of premature babies and infants.

The level of naturally occurring tocopherols in blood serum of 88 preterm infants, aged from birth to 2 years, was determined by the high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method using fluorescence detection. In 11 cases, patients were assayed for their tocopherol status in longitudinal studies, receiving known amounts of vitamin E supplements orally and/or parenterally. No correlation was found between serum alpha-tocopherol level and gestational age nor birth weight. All preterm infants receiving the vitamin E preparation showed an average serum tocopherol content of more than 0.5 mg/100 ml. The highest alpha-tocopherol concentration registered during vitamin E therapy was 3.28 mg/100 ml. Infusion of Intralipid, a product derived from fractionated soybean oil, caused a significant increase of gamma- and delta-tocopherol in blood serum. The half-life of delta-tocopherol in serum was calculated to be about 24 hours.