How much vitamin D for neonates?
W. B. Pittard 3rd, K. M. Geddes, T. C. Hulsey and B. W. Hollis
Department of Pediatrics, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston 29425-3313.
To assess the adequacy of different dosages of neonatal vitamin D,
25-hydroxyvitamin D serum concentrations were longitudinally monitored in
27 low-birth-weight and 25 full-term well infants from birth to 16 weeks
after delivery. The infants were randomly assigned to receive either 10
micrograms/d (400 IU/d) or 20 micrograms/d (800 IU/d) of vitamin D or 0.85
or 1.5 micrograms/d of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3. In each infant who received 10
or 20 micrograms/d of vitamin D 25-hydroxyvitamin D, serum concentrations
greater than 20 ng/mL were maintained, with some low-birth-weight infants
reaching 60-ng/mL concentrations. Similarly, in the low-birth-weight
infants receiving 1.5 and 0.85 micrograms/d of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3, serum
25-hydroxyvitamin D levels greater than 12 ng/mL were maintained. In the
full-term infants who received 1.5 micrograms/d of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3,
serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations of greater than 12 ng/mL were
maintained, but in those who received 0.85 micrograms/d, serum
25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations of 10 ng/mL could not be maintained.
These vitamin D status data document that 10 micrograms (400 IU) of vitamin
D represents a sufficient daily intake for both premature and full-term
well infants. These data also indicate that while as little as 0.85
micrograms/d of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 may facilitate vitamin D sufficiency
in low-birth-weight neonates, it does not do so in full-term infants.
