VII. EFFECTS OP DEFICIENCY 



547 



alloxantiii having no effect upon the orvdiiocylcs of controls fed the same 

 diet supplemented with tocopherol. 



Furthermore, Gyi'n-g^y c( o/.'"*^ report that the led hlood cells of full-term 

 infants at birth show mild hemolysis when exposed to small amounts of 

 hydrogen peroxide, that incubation of washed erythrocytes with a-to- 

 ropherol makes them resistant to this effect, and that tocopherol fed to the 

 infant (but not when given to the pregnant mother) accelerates the dis- 

 appearance of this fragility which normally occurs during the first week or 

 so of postnatal life. The}'' speculate that "the 'physiologic' vitamin E de- 

 ficiency of the fetus and the newborn may have practical clinical implica- 



100 



90 

 80 

 70 ^ 

 60 

 50H 



% 



HEMOLYSIS 



40- 

 30 

 20 

 10 

 



VVA. 



w.a 



lb ' 20 ' 30 ' 40 ■ 50 6 ' 10 ' 20 ' 3!o ' 40 



AGE IN DAYS 



20 30 40 50 60 



Fig. 5. Effect of a-tocopherol administration, beginning at time indicated by 

 arrow, upon the susceptibility of erythrocytes to hemolysis (H2O2) in four premature 

 infants (from Gordon and de Aletrj^''''). 



lions in Rh-incompatibility as well as in the development of erythi'oblas- 

 tosis in newborn infants of diabetic and prediabetic mothers." Of additional 

 significance is the recent report of Gordon and deMetry^" describing he- 

 molysis of red cells, by the hydrogen peroxide test, in premature infants 

 bottle-fed for periods up to 30 days after birth, and disappearance of this 

 fragility within 2 to 5 days after tocopherol administration to the infant 

 (Fig. 5). They emphasize the low tocopherol content of most artificial 

 formulas for infants, compared to that of breast milk, as have Wright et 

 al.,^^^ who showed that in bottle-fed full-term infants the postnatal increase 

 in serum tocopherol is much more gradual than in breast-fed infants (Fig. 

 G), and that in bottle-fed prematures during the first month or so of post- 



1" H. li. Gordon and J. P. deMetry, Proc. Soc. Exptl. Biol. Med. 79, 446 (1952). 



