PEDIATRICS Vol. 106 No. 3 September 2000, pp. 547-553

Vitamin A Status and Postnatal Dexamethasone Treatment in Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia

Received Jun 29, 1999; accepted Dec 23, 1999.

Jayant P. Shenai^*, Beverly G. Mellen, and Frank Chytil^§

From the Departments of ^* Pediatrics,  Preventive Medicine, and ^§ Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee.

Objective.  Vitamin A (retinol) plays an important role in epithelial regeneration during recovery from lung injury in bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). Dexamethasone is used in the postnatal treatment of very low birth weight (VLBW) neonates with BPD. To test the hypothesis that the vitamin A status is critical for the beneficial pulmonary response to dexamethasone, we performed a prospective cohort study in which we characterized the changes in plasma concentrations of vitamin A and retinol-binding protein (RBP) in response to dexamethasone, and correlated these changes with the pulmonary outcome.

Methods.  VLBW neonates (birth weight <1350 g, gestational age <31 weeks, postnatal age >10 days), who had presumptive diagnosis of severe BPD and need for high ventilatory support (fraction of inspired oxygen .6, mean airway pressure 7 cm H₂O), were treated with a seven-day course of dexamethasone (.5 mg/kg/d × 2 days, .25 mg/kg/d × 2 days, .1 mg/kg/d × 3 days). Plasma concentrations of vitamin A and RBP were determined sequentially at baseline, and during and after dexamethasone treatment. Pulmonary response to dexamethasone was graded daily using a composite ventilation score. The changes in plasma vitamin A and RBP concentrations were compared between infants with a positive (beneficial) pulmonary response to dexamethasone and those with a negative response.

Results.  Among 23 infants studied, 13 showed a positive pulmonary response to dexamethasone, as indicated by successful weaning from supplemental oxygen and mechanical ventilation, whereas 10 showed a negative response. A significant, yet short-term, increase in plasma concentrations of both vitamin A and RBP was observed in most infants treated with dexamethasone. The plasma vitamin A and RBP responses to dexamethasone tended to be higher in infants with a positive pulmonary response than in those with a negative response. Accounting for gender, a vitamin A response with each 10.0 µg/dL increment in plasma vitamin A concentration was associated with a 60% increase in the odds favoring a positive pulmonary response to dexamethasone.

Conclusion.  Postnatal dexamethasone treatment in VLBW neonates with BPD induces a significant, yet short-term, increase in plasma concentrations of both vitamin A and RBP. This increase probably results from endogenous mobilization of vitamin A from the liver. Our data suggest that the beneficial pulmonary response to dexamethasone in infants with BPD is influenced, at least in part, by the vitamin A status, and that gender plays a role in this response.vitamin A, dexamethasone, bronchopulmonary dysplasia. .

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