The nutritional importance of inositol and the phosphoinositides.

IN this issue of the Journal, Hallman and colleagues1 report that inositol supplementation in premature infants with respiratory distress syndrome who were receiving parenteral nutrition improved survival without bronchopulmonary dysplasia and decreased the incidence of retinopathy of prematurity. This important study extends previous research on the relation of dietary inositol during the perinatal period to inositol status in serum and tissue and to the synthesis of lung surfactants. The availability of inositol may control the formation of surfactant phospholipids, including dipalmitoyl lecithin (phosphatidylcholine) and inositol phospholipid, in immature lung tissue. Inositol is a six-carbon sugar alcohol present in biologic . . .