How Much Vitamin D for Neonates?

• 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 μg/d (400 IU/d) or 20 μg/d (800 IU/d) of vitamin D or 0.85 or 1.5 μg/d of 25–hydroxyvitamin D₃. In each infant who received 10 or 20 μg/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 μg/d of 25–hydroxyvitamin D₃, serum 25–hydroxyvitamin Dlevels greater than 12 ng/mL were maintained. In the full-term infants who received 1.5 μg/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 μg/d, serum 25–hydroxyvitamin D concentrations of 10 ng/mL could not be maintained. These vitamin D status data document that 10 μg (400IU) 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 μg/d of 25–hydroxyvitamin D₃ may facilitate vitamin D sufficiency in low-birth-weight neonates, it does not do so in full-term infants.

(AJDC. 1991;145:1147-1149)