title: Long-Term Vitamin E-Deficient Mice Exhibit Cognitive Dysfunction via Elevation of Brain Oxidation.
abstract: Vitamin E inhibits oxidative processes in living tissues. We produced vitamin E-deficient mice by feeding them a vitamin E-deficient diet to verify the influence of chronic vitamin E deficiency on cognitive function. We measured cognitive function over a 5-d period using the Morris water maze task, as well as antioxidant enzyme activity and lipid peroxidation in discrete brain regions, and total serum cholesterol content. Three- and six-mo-old vitamin E-deficient and age-matched control mice were used. In addition, 24-mo-old mice were used as an aged-model. In the 3-mo-old mice, cognitive function in the vitamin E-deficient (short-term vitamin E-deficient) group was significantly impaired compared to age-matched controls. Although the lipid peroxidation products in the cerebral cortex, cerebellum and hippocampus did not significantly differ in 3-mo-old mice, the levels in the 6-mo-old vitamin E-deficient (long-term vitamin E-deficient) mice were significantly increased compared to age-matched controls. Serum cholesterol content was also significantly increased in the short- and long-term vitamin E-deficient mice compared to their respective age-matched controls. These results indicate that chronic vitamin E deficiency may slowly accelerate brain oxidation. Thus, vitamin E concentrations may need to be monitored in order to prevent the risk of cognitive dysfunction, even under normal conditions.
authors.affiliation: Physiological Chemistry Laboratory, Department of Bioscience and Engineering, College of Systems Engineering and Sciences, Shibaura Institute of Technology.
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fukui
authors.forename: Keisuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Masashi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shirai
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hirano
authors.forename: Hirokatsu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takatsu
authors.forename: Shiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Urano
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000378:metabolism; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D003071:Cognition; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000097:blood* / Q000209:etiology; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D014810:Vitamin E / Q000097:blood; D014811:Vitamin E Deficiency / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D014810:Vitamin E; D002784:Cholesterol