Vitamin E status in Sudanese children with protein-energy malnutrition

Total tocopherols and alpha-tocopherols were estimated in the plasma of children with severe malnutrition (14 marasmus; 11 marasmic kwashiorkor; five kwashiorkor) and related to the total plasma lipids and different plasma lipid classes. If the mere plasma concentrations were taken as an index of the vitamin E status, five children with marasmus, five children with marasmic kwashiorkor, and two children with kwashiorkor would have been regarded as deficient (<500 μg/dl). However, if total tocopherols and alpha-tocopherols were related to the total plasma lipids, all malnourished children - except one - showed values within the limits found in healthy American children. The study shows that low tocopherol/lipid ratios are not a constant feature in severely malnourished children. © 1990 Dr. Dietrich Steinkopff Verlag.