Vitamin e is an important micronutrient involved in various oxidative stress-related processes. it is transported in plasma lipoproteins due to its hydrophobic nature, and the pathways involved in its cellular uptake are related to the lipoprotein metabolism. atherosclerosis is a major cause of stroke, myocardial infarction, coronary artery disease, and peripheral vas¬cular disease. it is a slowly progressive and cumulative inflammatory disease characterized by excessive deposi¬tion of cholesterol in the arterial wall. replacing vitamin e in atherosclerosis induces anti-inflammation, regulates the expression of genes in growth, apoptosis, and inflammation, modifies the immune response, and detoxification of xenobiotics. vitamin e deficiency may lead to various disorders such as ataxia, neurological disorders, and infertility
Methods
α-carboxyethyl-the α-tocopherol long-chain metabolites (α-lcm) like α-13ˊ-cooh which results in the formation of middle-and short- chain metabolites (α-scm) with the catabolic end-product α-carboxyethyl-hydroxychroman (α-cehc11), respectively
Results
The α-lcm also affect macrophage foam cell formation by regulating uptake of ox ldl by macrophages via down-regulation of its phagocytic uptake, also α-lcm interfere with inflammatory processes by modulating activity of cox1 and cox2 and consequently by blocking production of pge2
Conclusion
It has been shown that α- cehc is anti-proliferative, anti-inflammatory, and anti- oxidative, inhibits ox ldl formation and protein kinase c (pkc) signaling. among other tocopherols, gamma-tocopherol was found to be more effective than alpha-tocopherol in its growth inhibitory effect on human prostate cancer cell lines, whereas delta-tocopherol has shown growth inhibitory activity against mouse mammary cancer cell lines. gamma- and delta-tocopherols can prevent colon, lung, breast and prostate cancers, while alpha tocopherol had no such effect.
Keywords
Vitamin e ; antioxidants; atherosclerosis; alpha-tocopherol; foam cell
