The present study assessed the effects of enteral "low" dose (daily doses of ≤10 000 international units) vitamin-A supplementation contrasting with no vitamin A supplementation in human milk-fed preterm and low birth weight (LBW) infants.

It searched Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials; Medline, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, and CINAHL for the Randomized trials. The study looked for the primary outcomes of mortality, morbidity, growth, and neurodevelopment; and secondary outcomes of feed intolerance and duration of hospitalization. It also assessed the dose and timing of vitamin A supplementation.

The study observed-

• It found four trials, including 800 very LBW <1.5 kg or <32 weeks′ gestation infants.
• Little or no effect on mortality, sepsis, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, retinopathy of prematurity, or duration of hospitalization, in the latest follow-up.
• An increased level of serum retinol, a mean difference of 4.7 μg/ml.
• Very low to moderate level evidence.
• No reports on length, head circumference, or neurodevelopment.

This study indicated that Low-dose vitamin A increases serum retinol concentration among very LBW and very preterm infants but has no effect on other outcomes. Further studies must assess the effects in infants 1.5 to 2.4 kg or 32 to 26 weeks gestation.

Rukman M. Manapurath, Mohan Kumar, Barsha Gadapani Pathak, Ranadip Chowdhury, Bireshwar Sinha, Tarun Choudhary, Naro Chandola, Sarmila Mazumdar, Sunita Taneja, Nita Bhandari, Ravi Prakash Upadhyay; Enteral Low-Dose Vitamin A Supplementation in Preterm or Low Birth Weight Infants to Prevent Morbidity and Mortality: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Pediatrics August 2022; 150 (Supplement 1): e2022057092L. 10.1542/peds.2022-057092L