Vitamin E status of the newborn in relation to gestational age, birth weight and maternal vitamin E status.

1. Studies were made on the vitamin E status of the newborn as judged by cord serum vitamin E and erythrocyte haemolysis in vitro in relation to gestational age, birth weight and maternal vitamin E status in subjects belonging to low (LIG)- and high (HIG)-income groups in urban Baroda. 2. In the case of full-term infants, the mean values for maternal serum vitamin E (mg/l) for LIG (n 73) and HIG (n 43) were 9.9 (SE 0.4) and 11.6 (SE 0.5). The corresponding values for cord serum vitamin E were 3.6 (SE 0.2) and 4.6 (SE 0.2) mg/l. 3. Serum vitamin E levels (mg/l) were lower in premature infants (2.3 (SE 0.2); n 20) and low-birth-weight full-term infants (2.9 (SE 0.2); n 25) than in full-term normal infants (4.2 (SE 0.1); n 91). This was associated with differences in maternal serum vitamin E levels (7.4 (SE 0.5), 8.2 (SE 0.5) and 11.1 (SE 0.3) respectively). The differences were more marked for LIG. 4. A negative correlation was found between serum vitamin E and erythrocyte haemolysis in vitro in the case of maternal blood but not in cord blood. 5. These results suggest that maternal vitamin E deficiency is one of the features associated with prematurity and intra-uterine growth retardation.