Plasma vitamin E levels in children with cholestasis.

Plasma vitamin levels were assayed in 58 children presenting with chronic cholestasis. In the infants who developed cholestasis during the first weeks of life, vitamin E levels dropped below normal values after the age of 4 months. In the older children, vitamin E levels were not correlated with the etiology of cholestasis but with the degree of cholestasis, as expressed by serum bilirubin, serum bile acids, and fat absorption coefficient. We did not find any relationship between vitamin E levels and other biological parameters such as alkaline phosphatases, triglycerides, phospholipids, and cholesterol. These results further support the importance of vitamin E deficiency in chronic cholestasis of infants and children.