Studies of Tocopherol Deficiency in Infants and Children<subtitle>I. Hemolysis of Erythrocytes in Hydrogen Peroxide</subtitle>

Abstract

In 1949, Owens and Owens1suggested that defective absorption of fat by premature infants * and the use of partially skimmedcows'-milk mixtures † might lead to a deficiency of vitamin E. Support for the latter concept was obtained by Wright, Filer, and Mason,9who reported that the serum tocopherol levels of premature infants fed partially skimmed cows' milk decreased from average levels of 0.4 mg. per 100 cc. at birth to 0.1 mg. at age 31-40 days. Other investigators reported average levels of 0.25 to 0.5 mg. per 100 cc. for premature infants fed unsupplemented diets,‡ well below the level of approximately 1 mg. per 100 cc. found in full-term infants fed at the breast.9 Gyorgy and Rose § reported that the erythrocytes of vitamin-E-deficient rats were hemolyzed by suitable incubation with dialuric acid and that this hemolysis was preventable either by feeding tocopherol or by its addition