FACTORS ALTERING CONCENTRATION OF CAROTENOIDS 517 



amounted to 0.24 milligram per cent, agrees well with these values. After 

 two to five days, plasma tocopherol had increased to 0.36 milligram per 

 cent. Wright and collaborators 970 found a somewhat higher value for 

 plasma tocopherol in newborn infants than Mover 973 reported; the aver- 

 age plasma tocopherol in the case of seventy-seven infants on the first or 

 second day of life was found to be 0.38 ± 0.18 milligram per cent. 



The tocopherol levels in the blood of premature infants do not show any 

 striking variations from those of full-term infants. Thus, a value of 0.43 

 milligram per cent (thirty infants) has been cited for premature babies 

 during the first ten days of extrauterine life, 970 and of 0.22 milligram per cent 

 (eleven infants) shortly after birth. 973 This average figure had decreased 

 to only 0.09 milligram per cent after thirty-one to forty days. 970 Low values 

 for serum tocopherol were also shown to be characteristic of infants hav- 

 ing poor fat utilization ; this condition of decreased fat digestibility exists 

 in premature infants. 



Wright, Filer, and Mason 970 demonstrated the rapid increase in serum 

 tocopherols occurring during the early days of life. In nursing infants, 

 blood tocopherol had reached 1.46 milligram per cent by the sixth day; 

 it continued to remain above 1.25 milligram per cent thereafter. In the 

 case of artificially fed babies, plasma tocopherol was found to be 0.50 

 milligram per cent by the sixth day. At the age of five to eight months, 

 the levels were approximately 0.75 milligram per cent. Minot and Frank 974 

 reported that normal children eight to nineteen years of age had plasma 

 tocopherol concentrations of 0.64 to 1.12 milligram per cent. 



(d) Plasma Tocopherols in Pregnancy. In the case of cows, Latschar 

 et aZ. 975 showed that a progressive decrease in plasma tocopherols occurs as 

 term approaches. The minimum value is reached seven to fourteen days 

 following delivery, after which the serum tocopherol begins to increase. 

 When tocopherol is given during the last four weeks prior to parturition, 

 the level of the blood tocopherol is promptly raised ; a decrease occurs be- 

 fore and following parturition, but the maximum and minimum levels are 

 somewhat higher. These data are recorded in Table 27 (p. 516). 



In the case of women, the changes in plasma tocopherols during preg- 

 nancy do not follow as definite a pattern as in cattle. 972,976,977 Although 



974 A. S. Minot and H. E. Frank, Am. J. Diseases Children, 67, 371-375 (1944). 



975 C. E. Latschar, G. H. Wise, D. B. Parrish, and J. S. Hughes, J. Nutrition, 38, 

 503-516(1949). 



976 J. Varangot, Compt. rend., 214, 691-692 (1942). 



977 J. Varangot, H. Chailley, and N. Rieux, Compt. rend. soc. biol., 137, 393-394 

 (1943). 



