Lutein absorption in premature infants

Costantino Romagnoli (1) , Chiara Tirone (1) , Silvia Persichilli (1) , Gervasoni Jacopo (1) , Cecilia Zuppi (1) , Giovanni Barone (1) , Enrico Zecca (1)

1 Pediatrics

Abstract The objective of this study was to measure lutein and zeaxanthin plasma levels after oral lutein administration in preterm infants. Lutein was given orally in a single dose of 0.5 mg/kg to 10 preterm infants at a mean age of 52 hours of life. Plasma lutein and zeaxanthin were measured before and 6, 24, 48, and 120 hours after lutein administration. All infants had detectable plasma levels of lutein and zeaxanthin before treatment. Lutein concentration increased by 13.5% at 6 hours and by 16.7% at 24 hours, and returned to the basal level at 120 h after treatment. Zeaxanthin remained unchanged, while plasma total antioxidant activity decreased by 7.9% during the study period. Lutein is well absorbed in preterm infants when given orally. The clinical impact of increasing plasma lutein concentrations on macular development and visual function needs further investigation.

Mots clés: lutein; zeaxanthin; carotenoids; preterm infants

Costantino Romagnoli, Chiara Tirone, Silvia Persichilli, Gervasoni Jacopo, Cecilia Zuppi, et al.. Lutein absorption in premature infants. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2010, ⟨10.1038/ejcn.2010.62⟩. ⟨hal-00535575⟩