Do vitamin E supplements in diets for laboratory animals jeopardize findings in animal models of disease?
Vitamin E has been supplemented to the diets of farm animals to improve fertility, health, growth rates and quality of animal products. Because of the positive experience obtained in farm animals, vitamin E has been added in increasing amounts to the diets of laboratory animals. Today, vitamin E levels in standard rodent maintenance diets range from 30 mg/kg (France, United States), 90-120 mg/kg (Netherlands, United Kingdom) to as much as 200 mg/kg (Germany). While increasing fertility and health of laboratory animals, these vitamin E supplements affect diverse pathophysiological conditions and thus the outcome of animal models of disease. Because of the large variability of vitamin E levels between laboratories within and between different countries, results obtained in established animal models may no longer be comparable and/or reproducible. Researchers should be aware of these vitamin E supplements and carefully control for potential effects in their respective animal models that involve--or may involve--the generation of reactive oxygen species.
Lehr
H A
HA
Institute of Pathology, University of Mainz, Germany.
Vajkoczy
P
P
Menger
M D
MD
Arfors
K E
KE
D000818:Animals; D000830:Animals, Laboratory; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014810:Vitamin E / Q000494:pharmacology*
D014810:Vitamin E