Vitamin E intake, [alpha]-tocopherol levels and pulmonary function in children and adolescents with cystic fibrosis

• Published in: British journal of nutrition Vol. 113; no. 7; p. 1096
• Main Authors: Woestenenk, Janna W, Broos, Nancy, Stellato, Rebecca K, Arets, Hubertus G M, van der Ent, Cornelis K, Houwen, Roderick H J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge Cambridge University Press 14.04.2015
• Subjects: Adolescents; Children & youth; Cystic fibrosis; Pulmonary arteries; Respiratory function; Teenagers; Vitamin E
• ISSN: 0007-1145; 1475-2662
• DOI: 10.1017/S0007114515000215

Pancreatic insufficiency cystic fibrosis (CF) patients receive vitamin E supplementation according to CF-specific recommendations in order to prevent deficiencies. It has been suggested that higher serum [alpha]-tocopherol levels could have protective effects on pulmonary function (PF) in patients with CF. Whether current recommendations are indeed optimal for preventing deficiency and whether vitamin E has therapeutic benefits are subjects of debate. Therefore, we studied vitamin E intake as well as the long-term effects of vitamin E intake, the coefficient of fat absorption (CFA) and IgG on [alpha]-tocopherol levels. We also examined the long-term effects of serum [alpha]-tocopherol and serum IgG on forced expiratory volume in 1 s expressed as percentage of predicted (FEV1% pred.) in paediatric CF patients during a 7-year follow-up period. We found that CF patients failed to meet the CF-specific vitamin E recommendations, but serum [alpha]-tocopherol below the 2·5th percentile was found in only twenty-three of the 1022 measurements (2 %). Furthermore, no clear effect of vitamin E intake or the CFA on serum [alpha]-tocopherol was found (both P> or = 0·103). FEV1% pred. was longitudinally inversely associated with age (P< 0·001) and serum IgG (P= 0·003), but it was not related to serum [alpha]-tocopherol levels. We concluded that in the present large sample of children and adolescents with CF, vitamin E intake was lower than recommended, but serum [alpha]-tocopherol deficiency was rare. We found no evidence that higher serum [alpha]-tocopherol levels had protective effects on PF. Adjustment of the recommendations to the real-life intake of these patients may be considered.