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Vitamin E 80th Anniversary: A Double Life, Not Only Fighting Radicals
Author(s) -
Ricciarelli Roberta,
Zingg JeanMarc,
Azzi Angelo
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
iubmb life
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.132
H-Index - 113
eISSN - 1521-6551
pISSN - 1521-6543
DOI - 10.1080/15216540252774801
Subject(s) - vitamin e , tocopherol , cd36 , diacylglycerol kinase , chemistry , free radical scavenger , antioxidant , biochemistry , kinase , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , protein kinase c , gene
Recent research on α‐tocopherol has revealed specific cellular functions of this compound belonging to the vitamin E family. α‐Tocopherol can act as a radical scavenger, as a pro‐oxidant, as an anti‐alkylation agent and, most important, by mechanisms that are independent of the above properties. To the last group belong protein kinase C and 5‐lipoxygenase inhibition at post‐translational level, as well as α‐tocopherol activation of protein phosphatase 2A and diacylglycerol kinase. Furthermore, at transcriptional level, several genes (CD36, α‐TTP, α‐tropomyosin, and collagenase) are modulated by α8‐tocopherol. These effects result in inhibition of smooth muscle cell proliferation, platelet aggregation, and monocyte adhesion and may be related to the alleged protection of atherosclerosis by vitamin E. On the other side, epidemiological and intervention studies have shown some inconsistent results. Rather than disregarding vitamin E as a means to protect against atherosclerosis progression, it would be wiser to better design clinical trials based on current knowledge of the biological properties of the molecule.