title: Vitamin E: inflammation and atherosclerosis.
abstract: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the western world with its incidence increasing lately in developing countries. Several lines of evidence support a role for inflammation in atherogenesis. Hence, dietary micronutrients having antiinflammatory properties may have a potential beneficial effect with regard to CVD. Vitamin E is a potent antioxidant with antiinflammatory properties. It comprises eight different isoforms: four tocopherols (T) (alpha, beta, gamma, and delta) and four tocotrienols (T3) (alpha, beta, gamma, and delta). A wealth of data is available for the preventive efficacy of alpha-T. alpha-T supplementation in human subjects and animal models has been shown to be antioxidant and antiinflammatory in terms of decreasing C-reactive protein (CRP) and release of proinflammatory cytokines, the chemokine IL-8 and PAI-1 levels especially at high doses. gamma-T is effective in decreasing reactive nitrogen species and also appears to have antiinflammatory properties; however, there are scanty data examining pure gamma-T preparations. Furthermore, tocotrienols (alpha and gamma) also have implications for prevention of CVD; however, there are conflicting and insufficient data in the literature with regards to their potency. In this chapter, we have gathered recent emerging data on alpha-T specifically and also have given a composite view of gamma-T and tocotrienols especially with regards to their effect on inflammation as it relates to CVD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology Laboratory for Atherosclerosis and Metabolic Research UC Davis Medical Center, Sacramento, California 95817, USA.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Devaraj
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000150:complications / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000150:complications / Q000517:prevention & control; D014810:Vitamin E / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D014810:Vitamin E