Effect of vitamin E on the lag time of low-density lipoprotein oxidation in vitro in patients with cerebral infarction

Abstract

Objective To investigate the effect of vitamin E on the lag time of serum low-density lipoprotein (LDL) oxidation in vitro in patients with acute cerebral infarction (ACI). Methods Twenty-two patients with ACI received vitamin E treatment at the dose of 300 mg/day, and another 22 ACI patients matched for age, gender ratio, blood pressure, blood lipid level, location and degree of the infarction served as the control group in which no vitamin E was given. Serum samples were collected from the patients within 24 h and at 2 weeks after the onset to test the lag time of LDL oxidation in vitro and measure the levels of vitamin E, total cholesterol, triglyceride and free cholesterol. Results At two weeks after the onset of the infarction, the patients receiving vitamin E treatment had significantly prolonged lag time of LDL oxidation in comparison with that of the control patients (71.84± 9.75 vs 60.95±9.33 min, P<0.05), and showed also significantly higher vitamin E level in the serum Vitamin E and stroke index. The two groups of patients showed no significant differences in total cholesterol (5.08cholesterol (1.62oxidation in vitro is prolonged in ACI patients with vitamin E treatment, suggesting that vitamin E can increase the resistance of the patients against anti-oxidative stress. Key words: Vitamin E; Oxidized low-density lipoprotein; Cerebral infarction