Vitamin status in patients with chronic renal failure.

Many factors complicate the effort for a recommendation on individual vitamin requirements in CRF. On the basis of our present incomplete knowledge about the handling of vitamins in uremia, suggestions for appropriate supplementation only of water-soluble vitamins are given. Patients with advanced CRF without dialysis treatment should receive daily supplements of vitamin B6 (5 mg), ascorbic acid (70-100 mg), and the normal recommended daily allowance of the other water-soluble vitamins in addition to the vitamin intake from the diet. We give folic acid only in patients taking antifolate drugs or in combination with iron in iron deficiency state and anemia (1 tablet of Folicombin contains 0.5 mg folic acid and 0.4 g elemental iron). There is still a pressing need for more data on the vitamin status, on vitamin requirements, and on long-term effects of vitamin administration in CRF.