Effect of exchange transfusions with citrated blood on plasma concentrations of vitamin D metabolites in neonates.

The plasma concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD), 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25-(OH)2D), and 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (24,25-(OH)2D) were determined pre- and postexchange , and in donors' blood in 10 blood exchange transfusions with citrated blood for neonatal hyperbilirubinemia. The postexchange concentrations of 25-OHD and 24,25-(OH)2D were intermediate between the levels before exchange and in donors' blood. Before therapy, the 1,25-(OH)2D concentrations were higher in the infants' than in donors' blood, and the pre-exchange levels were re-established during the procedure. The results suggest that postexchange concentrations of 25-OHD and 24,25-(OH)2D could be explained on the basis of redistribution of the metabolites between plasma and extravascular pools, whereas de novo synthesis was the most likely cause for the restoration of 1,25-(OH)2D levels.