Studies of Tocopherol Deficiency in Infants and Children: I. Hemolysis of Erythrocytes in Hydrogen Peroxide

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1956 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 502-502
Keyword(s):  
Hydrogen Peroxide ◽  
Vitamin E ◽  
Premature Infants ◽  
Newborn Infants ◽  
Infants And Children ◽  
Hemolysis Test ◽  
Object Of Study ◽  
Normal Adults ◽  
Breast Fed ◽  
In Infants And Children

The question of the essentiality of vitamin E in the diet has been the object of study for many years. Recently a method has become available for estimation of tocopherol (vitamin E) in the blood through its prevention of hemolysis of erythrocytes by hydrogen peroxide. The method is applicable to 0.2 ml. of blood. The hemolysis test was applied to the blood of 282 normal full-term newborn infants and 67 premature infants. Additional determinations were performed in young well babies who had been born at term and others born prematurely ranging in age from a few days to approximately 3 months. The test was also applied to blood obtained from a variety of diseases including examples of steatorrhea. A large proportion of the normal newborn and premature infants showed more than 50 per cent hemolysis as compared with normal adults in which hemolysis is uniformly less than 10 per cent. Administration of tocopherol in those tested led to prompt reversal of the test in newborns and prematures to values comparable to those found in adults. Infants fed cows' milk formulae showed significantly less hemolysis at an average age of 7 weeks and infants who were breast fed showed still less hemolysis at the same average age. Infants and children with steatorrhea showed increased hemolysis which could be reversed by administration of tocopherol. Significant hemolysis was not found in the infants and children with a variety of other diseases. The significance of these findings is discussed and a cautious attitude is expressed towards taking these results to indicate the desirability of supplementing the diets of artifically fed infants with tocopherol.

Ulnar nerve conduction velocity and H-reflex in infants and children

1960 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juergen E. Thomas ◽  
Edward H. Lambert
Keyword(s):  
Ulnar Nerve ◽  
Conduction Velocity ◽  
Premature Infants ◽  
Newborn Infants ◽  
Nerve Fibers ◽  
H Reflex ◽  
Full Term ◽  
Infants And Children ◽  
Term Newborn ◽  
In Infants And Children

Measurements of conduction velocity of the motor fibers of the ulnar nerve in the segment between the upper part of the arm and the wrist were made in 6 premature infants, 42 full-term newborn infants and 98 children up through the age of 14 years. In premature infants, 21 – 40 days before full term, values ranged from 18 to 22 meters per second with a mean of 21. Full-term newborn infants had velocities that ranged from 21 to 33 m.p.s., with a mean of 28. The values in the newborn were about one-half those of normal young adults, which range from 47 to 73 m.p.s. (mean, 60). By the age of 3 years almost all values were in the lower part of the adult range and, at 5 years, the velocities were not significantly different from those of the adult. These observations are in harmony with information about the diameter of nerve fibers during growth in man. The H-reflex could be elicited by stimulation of the ulnar nerve in almost every newborn infant. By the age of 1 year and thereafter it could rarely be elicited. Between the elbow and wrist, afferent fibers subserving this reflex conducted with a mean velocity of 30 m.p.s. Data on the action potential of the hypothenar muscles, residual latency of conduction in the ulnar nerve, latency of the H-reflex and conduction in the peroneal nerve in infants and children are compared with those on adults. Submitted on July 15, 1959

VITAMIN E BLOOD LEVELS IN PREMATURE AND FULL TERM INFANTS

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1951 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 386-393
Author(s):  
STANLEY W. WRIGHT ◽  
LLOYD J. FILER ◽  
KARL E. MASON
Keyword(s):  
Vitamin E ◽  
Premature Infants ◽  
Placental Transfer ◽  
Newborn Infants ◽  
Full Term ◽  
Blood Levels ◽  
Rapid Decline ◽  
Term Infants ◽  
Breast Fed

Newborn infants showed serum tocopherol levels approximately one-fifth those of the maternal levels. During the first six days after birth, the serum tocopherols of breast-fed infants increased much more rapidly than those of bottle-fed infants. These differences were still evident at 1 to 4, and at 5 to 8, months of age. Premature infants fed an artificial formula low in vitamin E showed a rapid decline in serum tocopherol levels. These studies confirm and amplify other evidence that placental transfer of vitamin E is decidedly limited while mammary transfer is much more extensive.

Oral Vitamin E Supplementation for the Prevention of Anemia in Premature Infants: A Controlled Trial

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Zipursky ◽  
E. J. Brown ◽  
J. Watts ◽  
R. Milner ◽  
C. Rand ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vitamin E ◽  
Premature Infants ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Newborn Infants ◽  
Serum Vitamin ◽  
Hemoglobin Concentration ◽  
Erythrocyte Morphology ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Vehicle Treatment ◽  
Vitamin E Supplementation

Serum vitamin E levels are reduced in newborn infants. It has been reported that this deficiency is responsible, in part, for the development of anemia in premature infants during the first 6 weeks of life. The efficacy of vitamin E supplementation for the prevention of anemia in premature infants has been studied in a randomized, controlled, and blinded trial. Premature infants whose birth weights were less than 1,500 g were given, by gavage, 25 IU of dl-α-tocopherol or a similar volume of the drug vehicle. Treatment was continued for the first 6 weeks of life. A total of 178 infants were studied. Vitamin E levels were significantly higher in a supplemented group by day 3 and for the remainder of the 6-week period. At 6 weeks of age, there was no significant difference between the supplemented and unsupplemented groups in hemoglobin concentration, reticulocyte and platelet counts, or erythrocyte morphology. It is concluded that there is no evidence to support a policy of administering vitamin E to premature infants to prevent the anemia of prematurity.

PHYSIOLOGIC HYPERBILIRUBINEMIA AND HEMOLYSIS OF ERYTHROCYTES BY HYDROGEN PEROXIDE SOLUTION IN THE NEWBORN: INVESTIGATION OF A POSSIBLE RELATIONSHIP

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1957 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-97
Author(s):  
Jo-Anne E. Richards ◽  
Richard B. Goldbloom ◽  
Ronald L. Denton
Keyword(s):  
Hydrogen Peroxide ◽  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Vitamin E ◽  
Clinical Significance ◽  
Newborn Infant ◽  
Newborn Infants ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Term Infants ◽  
Mean Values ◽  
Relative Deficiency

Forty-three full-term infants have been studied with respect to hemolysis of erythrocytes in solutions of hydrogen peroxide and concentrations of bilirubin in the serum. Mean values for concentration of bilirubin in the serum and percentage of hemolysis followed similar patterns in the first few days of life. However, statistical analysis of the data in individual cases showed no significant correlation between the degree of hemolysis in solutions of hydrogen peroxide and the concentrations of bilirubin in the serum. Administration of vitamin E prevented an increase in hemolysis of erythrocytes in solutions of hydrogen peroxide but failed to produce any significant change in concentrations of bilirubin as compared with the control group. The evidence suggests that the relative deficiency of vitamin E which exists in most newborn infants does not play a part in the causation or maintenance of physiologic hyperbilirubinemia. The clinical significance of increased hemolysis of the erythrocytes of the newborn infant in solutions of hydrogen peroxide remains a mystery. Possible approaches to the clarification of this problem are suggested.

scholarly journals Neonatal Intussusception: A Review

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vipul Prakash Bothara ◽  
Anand Pandey ◽  
Jiledar Rawat
Keyword(s):  
Intestinal Obstruction ◽  
Clinical Features ◽  
Premature Infants ◽  
Bowel Obstruction ◽  
Treatment Options ◽  
Infants And Children ◽  
Intestinal Lumen ◽  
Common Cause ◽  
Diagnostic Modalities ◽  
In Infants And Children

Intussusception is defined as a process in which a segment of bowel invaginates into the adjoining intestinal lumen, causing bowel obstruction. It is the most common cause of intestinal obstruction in infants and children between 6 months to 18 months of age. In neonates and premature infants, it accounts for only 3% of intestinal obstruction and 0.3% (0–2.7%) of all cases of intussusception Since neonatal intussusception is an uncommon entity, we conducted this review to examine its occurrence, clinical features, diagnostic modalities, and treatment options.

Vitamin Dosages in Premature Infants

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 79 (4) ◽  
pp. 654-655
Author(s):  
WILLIAM F. WALSH
Keyword(s):  
Parenteral Nutrition ◽  
Total Parenteral Nutrition ◽  
Premature Infants ◽  
Package Insert ◽  
Infants And Children ◽  
Recommended Dose ◽  
Daily Dose ◽  
In Infants And Children ◽  
Vitamin Preparation

The article "Evaluation of a Pediatric Multiple Vitamin Preparation For Total Parenteral Nutrition in Infants and Children" by Moore et al (Pediatrics 1986; 77:530-538) confused me. The study of vitamin levels is crucial to making recommendations, but why would the authors choose to give all premature infants 65% of the recommended dose for infants and children, when the package insert clearly states, "Infants less than 1 kg: the daily dose should not exceed 30% of the contents. Do not exceed this daily dose"?

STUDIES OF TOCOPHEROL DEFICIENCY IN INFANTS AND CHILDREN

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1958 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 673-681
Author(s):  
Harry H. Gordon ◽  
Harold M. Nitowsky ◽  
J. T. Tildon ◽  
Stanley Levin
Keyword(s):  
Vitamin E ◽  
Tocopherol Content ◽  
Infants And Children ◽  
Renal Tubules ◽  
Exudative Diathesis ◽  
Hemorrhagic Necrosis ◽  
Pathologic Lesions ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Liver Degeneration ◽  
In Infants And Children

VITAMIN E was recognized some 35 years ago as a fat-soluble substance necessary for reproduction in the rat. Its potency is measured by assay for fertility and its synonym, tocopherol, comes from Greek words which mean "to bear offspring." Review of the original studies of Mason and his co-workers and of his interpretive writings provides a good stimulus for pediatric interest in the subject. It is proposed to review some literature on the pathologic lesions produced in animals and on the tocopherol content of foods, and then summarize data collected at the Colorado General, Sinai and Johns Hopkins Hospitals on tocopherol deficiency in infants and children. Most of the latter data and detailed references to the literature have been published elsewhere. PATHOLOGIC FINDINGS IN EXPERIMENTAL ANIMALS Although vitamin E has been dubbed the anti-sterility vitamin, its absence from the diet has produced a variety of pathologic states, differing from one species to another, and at different ages in the same species. Some of the conditions found are: Fetal resorption; testicular degeneration; encephalomalacia; "exudative diathesis"; generalized edema; brownish discoloration of smooth muscle, adipose tissue and liver; acute hemorrhagic necrosis of the liver; degeneration of renal tubules; focal necrosis of cardiac muscle; and nutritional muscular dystrophy. Provocative findings in E-deficient animals that call to mind clinical problems in premature infants are: Hemorrhagic manifestations in rat fetuses and chick embryos; hemorrhages in the lungs, visceral and cranial cavities in puppies; subcutaneous, pulmonary and cerebral edema in young chickens, anemia in monkeys; and hemolysis after administration of large doses of vitamin K to rats.

Can Vitamin E Deficiency Occur in an Infant Receiving Total Parenteral Nutrition?

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1977 ◽  
Vol 59 (5) ◽  
pp. 789-790
Author(s):  
A. Myron Johnson ◽  
Mary Ann Williams Morris
Keyword(s):  
Vitamin E ◽  
Parenteral Nutrition ◽  
Total Parenteral Nutrition ◽  
Premature Infants ◽  
Newborn Infants ◽  
Vitamin E Deficiency ◽  
Gastrointestinal Obstruction ◽  
Lipid Supplementation ◽  
Upper Gastrointestinal ◽  
Vitamin E Supplementation

Reports in the July 1975 issue of Pediatrics of total parenteral nutrition (TPN) in newborn infants, with and without lipid supplementation,1,2 have prompted a brief report of our experience with a small premature infant given TPN because of upper gastrointestinal obstruction and postoperative intolerance of enteral nutrition. Although cause-and-effect relationships are far from clear, this infant's course raises a question about the adequacy of vitamin E supplementation for premature infants receiving TPN. Case Report. F.I. (No. 31-10-62) was the first born in a pair of dizygotic black twins, weighed 1,370 gm, and was the product of a 30-week gestation terminated by spontaneous rupture of membranes.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document