title: Reduced concentration of hepatic alpha-tocopherol in patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis.
abstract: The concentration of alpha-tocopherol was measured in liver biopsy specimens obtained from 83 patients with alcoholic and non-alcoholic liver diseases. The mean hepatic vitamin E content (as alpha-tocopherol) was significantly lower in 23 patients with alcoholic cirrhosis (17.6 +/- 12.1 nmol/mg wet weight liver), compared with 12 patients with normal liver histology (39.2 +/- 29.7 nmol/mg, P less than 0.01). The mean serum concentration of alpha-tocopherol was lower in patients with alcoholic cirrhosis (13.9 +/- 7.0 mumol/l) than in individuals with alcoholic fatty liver (21.3 +/- 9.3 mumol/l, P less than 0.01) and patients with normal liver histology (23.4 +/- 11.6 mumol/l, P less than 0.01). A decreased ratio of serum alpha-tocopherol/total serum lipids was also observed in patients with alcoholic cirrhosis, compared with patients with normal liver histology (P less than 0.05). There was a significant correlation between concentrations of alpha-tocopherol in liver and serum (r = 0.43, P less than 0.001). Furthermore, serum alpha-tocopherol correlated with retinol (r = 0.53, P less than 0.001), selenium (r = 0.45, P less than 0.001), and albumin (r = 0.37, P less than 0.001) in serum. We suggest that the reduced content of hepatic alpha-tocopherol observed in some patients may play a role in ethanol-induced lipid peroxidation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Aker University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bell
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bjørneboe
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Eidsvoll
authors.forename: K R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Norum
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Raknerud
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Try
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Thomassen
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Drevon
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001706:Biopsy; D005235:Fatty Liver, Alcoholic / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology*; D008104:Liver Cirrhosis, Alcoholic / Q000473:pathology*; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000473:pathology; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014810:Vitamin E / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D014810:Vitamin E