title: Vitamin E suppresses increased lipid peroxidation in cigarette smokers.
abstract: Cigarette smoke contains many xenobiotics, including oxidants and free radicals, which can increase lipid peroxidation. Recently, breath pentane output (BPO) has been recognized as a good indicator of lipid peroxidation. Vitamin E is known to be a potent free radical scavenger which can protect biological membranes against oxidative damage. We investigated the effect of vitamin E (dl-alpha-tocopherol) on lipid peroxidation in 13 healthy smokers. The results showed (1) smokers had increased BPO as compared with 19 healthy non-smokers (16.3 +/- 1.9 vs 5.8 +/- 0.5, pmol/kg body weight/min, p less than 0.001) although both groups had comparable plasma vitamin E and selenium concentrations, (2) supplementation with vitamin E (800 mg/day for 2 weeks) decreased BPO in smokers, and (3) the concentration of plasma selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase was restored to normal in those smokers (five out of 13) in whom this was low initially. We conclude that a normal plasma concentration of vitamin E does not prevent this increase of lipid peroxidation in smokers but that substantial doses of vitamin E will significantly reduce this increased lipid peroxidation. If a major function of vitamin E is to protect lipids from peroxidation, then smokers have a conditioned insufficiency of vitamin E on a normal diet.
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology, Toronto General Hospital, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hoshino
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shariff
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Van Gossum
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Allard
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pichard
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kurian
authors.forename: K N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Jeejeebhoy
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001944:Breath Tests; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010420:Pentanes / Q000378:metabolism; D012907:Smoking / Q000378:metabolism*; D014810:Vitamin E / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000097:blood / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D010420:Pentanes; D014810:Vitamin E