title: Bioavailability of vitamin E in humans: an update.
abstract: Vitamin E is essential for human health and may play a role in the prevention of some degenerative diseases. Its bioavailability, however, is wide ranging and is affected by numerous factors. Recent findings showing that the intestinal absorption of vitamin E involves proteins have raised new relevant questions about factors that can affect bioavailability. It is, therefore, opportune to present a current overview of this topic. This review begins by exploring what is known, as well as what is unknown, about the metabolization of vitamin E in the human upper gastrointestinal tract and then presents a methodical evaluation of factors assumed to affect vitamin E bioavailability. Three main conclusions can be drawn. First, the proteins ABCA1, NPC1L1, and SR-BI are implicated in the absorption of vitamin E. Second, the efficiency of vitamin E absorption is widely variable, though not accurately known (i.e., between 10% and 79%), and is affected by several dietary factors (e.g., food matrix, fat, and fat-soluble micronutrients). Finally, numerous unanswered questions remain about the metabolization of vitamin E in the intestinal lumen and about the factors affecting the efficiency of vitamin E absorption.
authors.affiliation: Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale INSERM, Unité Mixte de Recherche UMR 1062, Nutrition, Obesity and Risk of Thrombosis, Marseilles, France. Patrick.Borel@univ-amu.fr
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Borel
authors.forename: Damien
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Preveraud
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Desmarchelier
mesh_terms: D001682:Biological Availability; D006801:Humans; D007408:Intestinal Absorption / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism*; D009752:Nutritional Status; D014810:Vitamin E / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D014811:Vitamin E Deficiency / Q000378:metabolism / Q000517:prevention & control
chemical_list: D014810:Vitamin E