Vitamin E, vitamin A and essential fatty acid status of patients hospitalized for anorexia nervosa.

A group of 17 patients hospitalized for anorexia nervosa was assessed for nutritional status with respect to the essential fatty acids and vitamins E and A. Plasma aliquots available from blood drawn upon hospital admission were frozen and later extracted for total lipids. The total lipids were then fractionated by thin layer chromatography to isolate the phospholipids (PL). The fatty acid profile of both total plasma and PLs was determined by gas chromatography. High pressure liquid chromatography was used to quantitate the tocopherol isomers and retinol (vitamins E and A, respectively). The anorexic patients showed below normal weight-for-height, decreased percent body fat, and a high incidence of secondary amenorrhea. Of the four tocopherol isomers measured, only the beta + gamma fraction was significantly lower than the normal value (0.16 +/- .06 mg/dl vs 0.25 +/- 0.51 mg/dl, p less than .001). The essential fatty acids, linoleate and linolenate, were lower in the PL fraction of the anorexic group (linoleate, 19.35 +/- 5.65 vs 24.96 +/- 2.24, p less than .01); linolenate, none detected vs 0.16 +/- 0.13, p less than .05). Other indicators of essential fatty acid status differed from the normal group in the direction of deficiency (total omega 6, 31.44 +/- 7.41 vs 37.42 +/- 3.40, p less than .05; 20:4 omega 6/18:2 omega 6, 0.49 +/- 0.14 vs 40 +/- 0.02, mean +/- standard deviation, p less than .01). Eicosatrienoic acid, however, was not detected in either group.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)