Vitamin E deficiency and neurologic disease in adults with cystic fibrosis

Abstract

We report the cases of two adult patients with cystic fibrosis affecting the pancreas and liver, who also had severe vitamin E deficiency and neurologic disease. The most prominent clinical features were abnormal eye movements, diminished reflexes, decreased vibratory and position sense, ataxia, and muscle weakness. Treatment with intramuscular injections of vitamin E partially corrected the neurologic deficits. Vitamin E absorption tests documented severe malabsorption, which was later alleviated by the addition of dessicated ox bile to the regimen of alpha-tocopheryl acetate. These studies suggest that a decreased intraluminal concentration of bile salts is an important factor in the development of severe vitamin E deficiency and in the poor response to oral replacement therapy that is seen in some patients with cystic fibrosis.