Mg Of Alpha-tocopherol Research Articles

Cattle blood plasma and red blood cell alpha-tocopherol levels in response to different chemical forms and routes of administration of vitamin E.

The chemical form and site of administration of vitamin E were assessed in cattle by measuring area under the time curve alpha-tocopherol levels in plasma and red blood cells (RBC). In Exp. 1, four groups of Holstein calves, 4 to 6 d old, received daily one of the following forms equivalent to 228 mg of alpha-tocopherol: D-alpha-tocopheryl acetate (DTA); DL-alpha-tocopheryl acetate (DLTA); D-alpha-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1,000 succinate (TPGS); and an experimental blend (EB) containing DTA and TPGS. A control group received no supplement. Temporal alpha-tocopherol responses were determined in blood samples collected for 35 d. Relative to controls whose plasma and RBC alpha-tocopherol levels remained unchanged, all supplementation increased (P less than .05) alpha-tocopherol levels in plasma and RBC in calves; the highest levels occurred in those that received either DTA or EB. In a second experiment, five Hereford steers with ruminal and duodenal cannulas were used in a crossover design to determine whether site of vitamin E administration affected plasma alpha-tocopherol levels. A single dose of 810 mg of DTA was placed daily into the rumen, and the same amount divided into five equal doses was given (into the duodenum) during a 12-h period. Plasma alpha-tocopherol levels were higher (P less than .05) when steers were ruminally dosed than when they were dosed duodenally. The results suggest that the alpha-tocopherol concentration of plasma and red blood cells in cattle depends on both the chemical form and on the site of administration.

Effect of orally administered alpha-tocopheryl acetate on human myocardial alpha-tocopherol levels

Free radical injury may contribute to the delayed postoperative recovery of myocardial metabolism and ventricular function after elective coronary artery revascularization. This clinical study was designed to evaluate, in stable angina patients having aortocoronary bypass surgery, whether orally administered alpha-tocopheryl acetate was effective in increasing myocardial alpha-tocopherol levels and the effect of cardioplegic arrest followed by reperfusion on the myocardial alpha-tocopherol levels. Twenty-four patients with stable angina pectoris for elective revascularization received preoperatively the natural stereoisomer of alpha-tocopheryl acetate labelled with deuterium (D3) and six patients were used as controls. Since four patients who received 300 mg of D3-alpha-tocopheryl acetate preoperatively for 1 and 2 days did not have significant increases in their myocardial total or D3-tocopherol levels, the remaining 20 patients received 100 mg (n = 6), 300 mg (n = 8), or 900 mg (n = 6) of D3-alpha-tocopheryl acetate for 14 consecutive preoperative days. The left ventricular deuterated and nondeuterated alpha-tocopherol levels were measured by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Although there was a decrease (p less than 0.05) in myocardial alpha-tocopherol levels with the onset of reperfusion (cross-clamp removal), the myocardial tocopherol levels were not statistically different from preoperative levels by 20 minutes of reperfusion. At least 300 mg of alpha-tocopherol must be taken orally for 14 consecutive days to double the myocardial alpha-tocopherol levels.

Effect of Wheat Fiber and Vitamins C and E on Rectal Polyps in Patients With Familial Adenomatous Polyposis

Over a 4-year period in a chemoprevention trial on large bowel neoplasia, 58 patients with familial adenomatous polyposis were treated with 4 g of ascorbic acid (vitamin C)/day plus 400 mg of alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E)/day alone or with a grain fiber supplement (22.5 g/day). In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, we determined the effects of these supplements on rectal polyps in these patients. Analysis by intent to treat suggested that the high-fiber supplement had a limited effect. Analysis adjusted for patient compliance showed a stronger benefit from the high-fiber supplement during the middle 2 years of the trial. The results provide evidence for inhibition of benign large bowel neoplasia by grain fiber supplements in excess of 11 g/day in this study population. The findings are consistent with the hypothesis that dietary grain fiber and total dietary fat act as competing variables in the genesis of large bowel neoplasia.

STUDIES OF TOCOPHEROL REQUIREMENTS IN HEALTH AND DISEASE

Premature infants were fed an artificial formula essentially free of tocopherol over the first 6 months of life. These infants were compared to two other groups of prematures one fed a formula of "average" tocopherol content, and the third group a tocopherol-fortified product. Although the use of the "tocopherol-free" product resulted in extremely low tocopherol concentration in serum, no significant differences were observed in the three groups of infants with respect to weight increment, hemoglobin concentration, erythrocyte counts, hematocrit value, or in erythrocyte glutathione and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity. The requirements of the normal premature infant are met by a formula containing 3.0 mg of alpha tocopherol per liter of formula, in terms of achieving normal concentrations in serum during a 1-to-2-month period. Absorption studies in healthy full-term infants in the first week of life failed to reveal any significant differences in the degree of absorption of tocopherol as d-alpha tocopherol acetate, d-1 alpha tocopherol acetate and d alpha tocopheryl polyethylene glycol succinate, when administered in test doses providing 2.0 and 10.0 mg of free tocopherol. Observations on the effects of tocopherol supplementation on concentrations in serum of healthy full-term infants fed partly skim milk formula suggest that a daily supplement providing 0.5 mg of free tocopherol is adequate to produce a rapid rise to normal serum levels. However, except in terms of tocopherol concentrations, this study does not answer the question of true biological need for a tocopherol supplement in artificially fed infants. Because of the variable but marked decrease in tocopherol absorption in children with fibrocystic disease, very large supplements are necessary to maintain normal levels in serum. The observations reported here suggest that a minimum supplement of 100 mg tocopherol per day (free to-copherol as d-alpha tocopheryl polyethylene glycol succinate) is likely to be necessary in such patients, in order to restore serum concentrations to normal.

Further Observations upon the Protracted Effect of, Alpha-tocopherol Administered to Nursing Rats.

In a previous paper,1 it was shown that a single dose of 0.5-5.0 mg of alpha-tocopherol administered on the 15th day of life to rats born of mothers on an E-deficient diet, and maintained after weaning upon vitamin E low diet, produced a significant delay in postpuberal degeneration of the testis. Similar doses given on the 5th day, or on the 28-30th day, were less effective than when given on the 15th day.This paper is concerned with the effect of larger single doses, either given to the young directly, or through the mother's milk.Experiment I. The mother was a third generation rat on E-deficient diet, 10 mg of alpha-tocopherol acetate having been given at the beginning of each pregnancy. Litter H2 was the second litter; the first litter of 7 young did not survive 4 days. The young of H2 were given 1 drop (25.6 mg each) of alpha-tocopherol acetate on the 15th day of lactation. Semi-castration was performed when they were 107 days old, and they were killed on the 182nd day. Repeated fertility tests were ...

Microscopic Lesions Without Functional Impairment of Striated Musculature of Suckling E-Low Rats.

In endeavoring to determine the minimal prophylactic dose of alpha tocopherol which would insure the normality of the cross-striated musculature in suckling young rats, alpha tocopherol dissolved in ethyl laurate was administered at the 6 mg and 10 mg levels by stomach tube to a considerable series of mothers on the first day of lactation. The young were observed daily for evidences of the slightest impairment of gait, capacity to right themselves promptly when placed on their backs, et cetera. Thirty young were thus studied from mothers receiving 6 mg of alpha tocopherol and 41 from mothers receiving 10 mg. Sixty-four young from mothers receiving the solvent alone were also observed; in the last mentioned group all young showed paralyses or evident impairment of muscular function. Virtually all the young from mothers receiving either dose of alpha tocopherol appeared to be perfectly normal in their gait, righting reactions, et cetera. Histological study of 16 muscles was made in the case of several animals from each of the 3 groups. To our surprise in the case of the 6-mg group, 12 of the 16 muscles examined showed the typical microscopic lesions of dystrophy, although these were not extensive; i.e. plenty of normal musculature remained, a fact in harmony with the complete lack of observable motor impairment of these animals. In the 10-mg group microscopic lesions were entirely absent from all muscles studied. The muscles examined were diaphragm, gastrocnemius, adductor magnus, semimembranosus, extensor digitorum longus (communis), flexor digitorum profundus, biceps brachii, triceps brachii, psoas major, erector spinae group, sternomastoideus, serratus anterior, acromiotrapezius, pectoralis major, masseter and tongue. The masseter and tongue musculature proved themselves to be the least likely to be affected, the gastrocnemius and sternomastoideus the most likely to be affected.

Prevention of Nutritional Muscular Dystrophy in Suckling E-low Rats with Alpha-tocopherol and Related Substances.

SummaryThe dystrophy that almost invariably appears toward the end of the lactation period in the suckling young of vitamin E-low mothers can be prevented by the administration of 10 mg of alpha-tocopherol to the mother on the day of littering or the feeding of 1 mg daily to the young from day 10 or 3 mg from day 15. The administration of 3 mg of alpha-tocopherol daily from day 18 was ineffective. The following compounds related chemically to alpha-tocopherol were tested for anti-dystrophic activity and found inactive: 2,2,5,7,8-penta-methyl, 6 hydroxy chromane, phytol, gamma lactone and vitamin K1.