title: Is vitamin E an anti-allergic compound?
abstract: Vitamin E is found in eight forms in nature which include four tocopherols (alpha, beta, gamma and delta) and four tocotrianols (alpha, beta, gamma and delta). The classic effect of vitamin E is to reduce and prevent oxygen damage to the tissue and is useful for the treatment of pain, inflammation and allergic reactions. In addition to antioxidant activity, vitamin E also has a number of different and related functions. It protects against cancer, improves immune response, lowers the incidence of infectious diseases, cardiovascular diseases and is protective in allergy and asthma risk, and other disorders. Vitamin E increases n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) and decreases n-3 PUFA, an effect that diminishes asthma and allergic diseases. Moreover, vitamin E regulates vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1)-dependent leukocyte migration through its oxidant and non-antioxidant effect. Furthermore, vitamin E modulates the endothelial function by altering VCAM-1-induced oxidative activation of endothelial cell PKCα. However, vitamin E is not consistently associated with asthma and/or allergy, and in some cases there are conflicting results on allergy and inflammatory diseases. The association of vitamin E and allergy appears to be very complex, and further study needs to clarify this dilemma.
authors.affiliation: University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Caraffa
authors.affiliation: Department of Dentistry, Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Varvara
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery and Odontostomatological Sciences, University of Cagliari, Italy.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Spinas
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, School of Veterinary Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece.
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Kritas
authors.affiliation: Vascular Medicine Unit, Villa Serena Hospital, Citta' SantAngelo, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lessiani
authors.affiliation: Clinica dei Pazienti del Territorio, Policlinico Gemelli, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ronconi
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Saggini
authors.affiliation: University Hospital, Perugia, Italy.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Antinolfi
authors.affiliation: Aristotelian University, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Frydas
authors.affiliation: Salve Regina University, Newport USA.
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: De Tommaso Morrison
authors.affiliation: Immunology Division, Medical School, University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Conti
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018926:Anti-Allergic Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000188:drug therapy; D014810:Vitamin E / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D018926:Anti-Allergic Agents; D014810:Vitamin E