Abstract
Using high performance liquid chromatography, α-tocopherol levels in the plasma and RBC were studied, as related to the hydrogen peroxide (H_2O_2) hemolysis, and then the normal range of them was estimated on the basis of H_2O_2 hemolysis. 1. Under our condition of the H_2O_2 hemolysis test, the level of less than 30% hemolysis was within normal range. 2. More than 30% of H_2O_2 hemolysis was accounted for 83.3% in the premature and neonatal age group, while the hemolysis all the cases of more than 1 month of age was less than 30%. 3. The distribution of plasma tocopherol levels in the group with less than 30% hemolysis was 300~1,100μg/dl, while that of RBC was 100~300/μg/dl packed cells. On the basis of 85 percentile of the group with more than 30% hemolysis, the lower limit of plasma α-tocopherol level was estimated as 450μg/dl. On the other hand, the lower limit of RBC α-tocopherol level was 125μg/dl packed cells, on the basis of 15 percentile of the group with less than 30% hemolysis, because of the finding that the distribution in α-tocopherol levels between both the groups were more clearly differed in the RBC than plasma. 4. The correlation with plasma α-tocopherol levels (X) and RBC levels (Y) extended in the range of Y=0.14X to Y=0.76X. 5. The mean values of the ratio of RBC α-tocopherol to plasma α-tocopherol were about 0.3 in each age group, where the ratios were widely distributed.
