Vitamin E supplementation in people with cystic fibrosis.

Study answer

What this study found

Vitamin E supplementation improved serum vitamin E levels in people with cystic fibrosis, but there was no evidence available for deficiency-related clinical outcomes such as lung function or quality of life. Reported effects on serum vitamin E were positive across short follow-up periods, including MD 13.46 (95% CI 9.03 to 17.89) and MD 17.66 (95% CI 10.59 to 24.74) at up to 1 month in one trial, MD 11.61 (95% CI 4.77 to 18.45) at up to 3 months and MD 19.74 (95% CI 13.48 to 26.00) at up to 6 months in another, and MD 13.59 (95% CI 9.52 to 17.66) at up to 1 month in a third. One trial found…

Study & population

Systematic review of four small parallel-group trials in people with cystic fibrosis, mostly children and adolescents, including participants with mild lung disease and some receiving pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy.

Intervention

Vitamin E was given orally in small randomized trials using either water-miscible or fat-soluble formulations, typically at 10 mg/kg/day, with one study using RRR alpha-tocopherol 600 IU/day for participants under 20 kg and 1200 IU/day for those over 20 kg.

Key limitation

The evidence base was very small and at risk of bias, with short follow-up and limited reporting of allocation, blinding, and completeness of data.

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Original abstract