Water‐miscible tocopherol is not superior to fat‐soluble preparation for vitamin E absorption in cystic fibrosis

Abstract

Vitamin E deficiency is a major problem in cystic fibrosis. Modern pancreatic enzymes may improve the absorption of fat‐soluble vitamins to make water dispersion less important. In order to compare the absorption of fat‐soluble (F) and water‐miscible (W) tocopheryl acetate, equivalent amounts (10 mg/kg body weight) were given to five patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) and five age‐and sex‐matched healthy controls. Serum was analysed for vitamin E using HPLC before and 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 24 and 28 h after the oral intake. The median peak concentrations in the sera of controls were 41.9 μmol/L after F and 39.8 μmol/L after W preparations, corresponding values in CF patients being 21.3 and 26.8 μmol/L, and corresponding means ± SD were 41.6 ± 6.7 and 38.4 ± 3.3, and 27.1 ± 14.5 and 28.8 ± 8.3, respectively. Although the area under the curve was lower for W than F preparations in both CF patients and controls, these differences were not significant. Conclusion: The results in our study are consistent with those of an earlier study using the same preparation and suggest that it is not necessary to use water‐miscible preparation of α‐tocopheryl acetate in CF patients receiving modern pancreatic enzyme supplementation.