Vitamin E and the hypercoagulability of neonatal blood.

This study examines whether vitamin E deficiency has any role in the hypercoagulability of neonatal blood. Blood was collected from mothers and their full-term placental cords. Vitamin E was measured by high-pressure liquid chromatography and whole blood clotting time was measured by recalcification. Cord plasma had significantly lower vitamin E (P < 0.0001) compared with maternal plasma. Whole blood clotting time of cord blood was significantly (P < 0.002) shorter compared with the clotting time of maternal blood. There was a significant correlation between plasma vitamin E and whole blood clotting time (r = 0.54, P < 0.04) of cord blood. The addition of standard vitamin E to cord blood in vitro resulted in prolongation of whole blood clotting time. This suggests that a deficiency of plasma vitamin E can shorten whole blood clotting time in newborns, which may have a role in the disseminated intravascular coagulation frequently experienced by newborn infants.