Vitamin E supplementation

Due to bleeding risk, individuals on anticoagulant therapy or individuals who are vitamin K-deficient should not take vitamin E supplementation without close medical supervision. Absent of that, vitamin E is a well-tolerated relatively non-toxic nutrient. A tolerable upper intake level of 1,000 mg daily of a-tocopherol of any form (equivalent to 1,500 IU of RRR a-tocopherol or 1,100 IU of all-rac-a-tocopherol) would be, according to the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine, the highest dose unlikely to result in haemorrhage in almost all adults. 

Pham DQ, Plakogiannis R (2005) Vitamin E supplementation in cardiovascular disease and cancer prevention Part 1. Ann Pharmacother 39 1870-1878... 

Boshtam M, Rafiei M, Golshadi ID et al (2005) Long-term effects of oral vitamin E supplement in type II diabetic patients. Int J Vitam Nutr Res 75 341—346... 

As soon as it was appreciated that oxygen toxicity was somehow involved in retrolental fibroplasia, antioxidant administration was empirically investigated in both animal models and babies. In 1949, Owens and Owens reported a protective effect of vitamin E unfortunately this could not be substantiated in subsequent controlled trials. Phelps and Rosenbaum (1977) investigated whether vitamin E supplementation would influence oxygen-induced retinopathy in kittens and found it to be beneficial in reducing the severity of the lesions. Nevertheless, vitamin E has not yet been used with much success in preterm babies. 

Armario, A., Campmany, L., Borras, M. and Hidalgo, J. (1990). Vitamin E-supplemented diets reduce lipid peroxidation but do not alter either pituitary-adrenal, glucose, and lactate responses to immobilization stress or gastric ulceration. Free Rad. Res. Commun. 9, 113-118. 

Values are presented as mU/min/mg and mean (SEM) of 4-6 muscles. Muscles were either Incubated without any further treatment, stimulated for 30 min with repetitive tetanii or treated with the calcium ionophore (A23187 - 20 /im) for 30 min. Data presented represent efflux over 90-120 min post-treatment. Animals were fed either a vitamin E-deficient or vitamin E-supplemented diet (Phoenix et al., 1990) for 6 weeks prior to study. Data derived from O Farrell (1994). 

There have been more than 20 studies relating to the prevention of atherosclerosis by antioxidants. In vitro, several studies have shown that antioxidant treatment (e.g. vitamin E) inhibits both oxidation and the formation of cytotoxic LDL (Steinbrecher etal., 1984 Par-thasarathy etal., 1986 Esterbauer etal., 1987). In vivo, vitamin E supplementation prevents LDL oxidation in... 

Vitamin E supplementation has been shown to have positive effects on milk quality in a conventional commercial dairy herd. Milk obtained from cows that received supplemental vitamin E had lower somatic cell counts and plasmin concentrations than corresponding values in milk obtained from control cows. The reduction in plasmin as a result of vitamin E supplementation is very beneficial to the dairy industry because plasmin reduces the cheese-yielding capacity of milk, affects the coagulating properties of milk and its overall ability to withstand processing during cheesemaking (Politis et al., 2004). 

Politis I, Bizelis I, Tsiaras A and Baldi A (2004), Effect of vitamin E supplementation on neutrophil function, milk composition and plasmin activity in dairy cows in a commercial herd , Journal of Dairy Research, 71, 273-278. 

Rosenvold K, Lrerke H N, Jensen S K, Karlsson A, Lundstrom K and Andersen FI J (2002), Manipulation of critical quality indicators and attributes in pork through vitamin E supplementation level, muscle glycogen reducing finishing feeding and pre-slaughter stress , Meat Sci, 62, 485 196. 

Effects of Vitamin E Supplementation in Aging and Heart Diseases... 

The efficiency of vitamin E in the suppression of free radical-mediated damage induced by iron overload has been studied in animals and humans. Galleano and Puntarulo [46] showed that iron overload increased lipid and protein peroxidation in rat liver. Vitamin E supplementation successfully suppressed these effects and led to an increase in a-tocopherol, ubiquinone-9, and ubiquinone-10 contents in liver. Important results were obtained by Roob et al. [47] who found that vitamin E supplementation attenuated lipid peroxidation (measured as plasma MDA and plasma lipid peroxides) in patients on hemodialysis after receiving iron hydroxide sucrose complex intravenously during hemodialysis session. These findings support the proposal that iron overload enhances free radical-mediated damage in humans. 

At present, antioxidants are extensively studied as supplements for the treatment diabetic patients. Several clinical trials have been carried out with vitamin E. In 1991, Ceriello et al. [136] showed that supplementation of vitamin E to insulin-requiring diabetic patients reduced protein glycosylation without changing plasma glucose, probably due to the inhibition of the Maillard reaction. Then, Paolisso et al. [137] found that vitamin E decreased glucose level and improved insulin action in noninsulin-dependent diabetic patients. Recently, Jain et al. [138] showed that vitamin E supplementation increased glutathione level and diminished lipid peroxidation and HbAi level in erythrocytes of type 1 diabetic children. Similarly, Skyrme-Jones et al. [139] demonstrated that vitamin E supplementation improved endothelial vasodilator function in type 1 diabetic children supposedly due to the suppression of LDL oxidation. Devaraj et al. [140] used the urinary F2-isoprostane test for the estimate of LDL oxidation in type 2 diabetics. They also found that LDL oxidation decreased after vitamin E supplementation to patients. 

Radiation is one of the most important known environmental stimuli of cancer development. This environmental factor becomes especially dangerous for humans living in the areas affected by irradiation from nuclear accidents. Earlier we found that the administration of a mixture of vitamin E and a-lipoic acid to children living in the area of Chernobyl nuclear accident significantly and synergistically suppressed leukocyte oxygen radical overproduction [211]. Thus a-lipoic acid and a-lipoic acid + vitamin E supplements may be of interest as antioxidant preventive agents for the treatment of radiation-induced cancer development. 

Cystic fibrosis is the most common lethal autosomal-recessive disease, in which oxidative stress takes place at the airway surface [274]. This disease is characterized by chronic infection and inflammation. Enhanced free radical formation in cystic fibrosis has been shown as early as 1989 [275] and was confirmed in many following studies (see references in Ref. [274]). Contemporary studies also confirm the importance of oxidative stress in the development of cystic fibrosis. Ciabattoni et al. [276] demonstrated the enhanced in vivo lipid peroxidation and platelet activation in this disease. These authors found that urinary excretion of the products of nonenzymatic lipid peroxidation PGF2 and TXB2 was significantly higher in cystic fibrotic patients than in control subjects. It is of importance that vitamin E supplementation resulted in the reduction of the levels of these products of peroxidation. Exhaled ethane, a noninvasive marker of oxidative stress, has also been shown to increase in cystic fibrosis patients [277]. 

The effect of vitamin E supplementation on a-tocopherol and /(-carotene concentrations in tissues from pasture- and grain-fed cattle was also elucidated with HPLC analysis. The investigation was motivated by the fact that a-tocopherol influences beneficially meat colour and stability [53], and the presence of /(-carotene can modify the amount of a-tocopherol in tissues [54], Samples were extracted with hexane and the concentration of /(-carotene was assessed by HPLC. Some data are listed in Table 2.20. It was concluded from the data that... 

MEAN CONCENTRATION (WITH POOLED S.E.O OF a-TOCOPHEROL AND /1-CAROTENE IN LIVER, FAT AND MUSCLES (jug/g TISSUE) FROM PASTURE- AND GRAIN-FED CATTLE WITH OR WITHOUT VITAMIN E SUPPLEMENT (N = 8)... 

M.P. Lynch, J.P. Kerry, D.J. Buckley, C. Faustman and P.A. Morrissey, Effect of dietary vitamin E supplementation on the colour and lipid stability of fresh, frozen and vacuum-packaged beef. Meat Sci. 52 (1999) 95-99. 

A. Yang, M.J. Brewster, M.C. Lanari and R.K. Tume, Effect of vitamin E supplementation on a-tocopherol and /1-carotene concentrations in tissues from pasture- and grain-fed cattle. Meat Sci. 60 (2002) 35 10. 

As a result, the benefits of antioxidant dietary supplements are under debate. According to one study, vitamin E supplements may lower the risk of heart disease. Another study, however, concludes that taking beta-carotene supplements does not reduce the risk of certain cancers. 

A host of medications have been nsed to treat TD including medications that block norepinephrine activity (clonidine and propranolol), dopamine-activating medications (bromocriptine), benzodiazepines, acetylcholine-activating medications, calcium channel blockers, and monoamine oxidase inhibitors. In addition, vitamin E supplementation and atypical antipsychotics including clozapine have been used to treat TD. 

Miller ER III, Pastor-Barriuso R, Dalai D, Riemersma RA, Appel LJ, Gualiar E. (2005) Meta-anlaysis High-dosage vitamin E supplementation may increase all-cause mortality. Ann Intern Med 142 37 46. 

McDowell LR, Willikams SN, Hidiroglou N, Njeru CA, Hill GM, Ochoa L, Wilkinson NS, Vitamin E supplementation for the ruminant. Animal Feed Science Technology 60 273—296, 1996. 

Vitamin E may be indicated in some rare forms of anemia such as macrocytic, megaloblastic anemia observed in children with severe malnutrition and the hemolytic anemia seen in premature infants on a diet rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids. Also anemia s in malabsorption syndromes have shown to be responsive to vitamin E treatment. Finally, hemolysis in patients with the acanthocytosis syndrome, a rare genetic disorder where there is a lack of plasma jS-lipoprotein and consequently no circulating alpha tocopherol, responds to vitamin E treatment. In neonates requiring oxygen therapy vitamin E has been used for its antioxidant properties to prevent the development retrolental fibroplasia. It should be noted that high dose vitamin E supplements are associated with an increased risk in allcause mortality. 

Bacterial colonization of lower respiratory tract. Cigarette smoke, administered for 3 days before and after intratracheal instillation of bacterial suspension containing six bacterial species (Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Streptococcus pneumonia, Proteus mirabilis, Haemophilus influenza, Peptostreptococcus spp.) to male Wistar albino rats with or without vitamin E supplements (100 mg/kg/day), signifi-... 

Lin, Y., et al. (2002) Profiling of human cytokines in healthy individuals with vitamin E supplementation by antibody array. Cancer Lett. 187, 17-24. 

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