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Vitamin E Deficiency in Human Liver Disease and its Relation to Haemolysis
Author(s) -
Powell Lawrie W.
Publication year - 1973
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.596
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1445-5994
pISSN - 0004-8291
DOI - 10.1111/j.1445-5994.1973.tb03106.x
Subject(s) - haemolysis , vitamin e deficiency , medicine , malabsorption , cholestasis , jaundice , liver disease , vitamin , vitamin a deficiency , red cell , endocrinology , vitamin e , gastroenterology , retinol , immunology , biology , biochemistry , antioxidant
Summary: To determine whether the increased haemolysis occurring in some patients with clinical liver disease is related pathogenetically to vitamin E deficiency, plasma vitamin E levels and in vitro and in vivo haemolysis were measured in patients with various forms of liver disease and in control subjects. Vitamin E deficiency was demonstrated in patients with long‐standing obstructive jaundice (presumably due to malabsorption from bile salt deficiency) and was shown to contribute in part to the reduced red cell survival accompanying this disorder. However, vitamin E deficiency was not the sole cause of the haemolysis since, in contrast to patients with primary malabsorption, the red cell survival did not return completely to normal following vitamin E administration. Furthermore, in three patients the red cell survival was reduced while the plasma vitamin E level was within the normal range. Primary hepatocellular disease without cholestasis was not associated consistently with vitamin E deficiency and the red cell survival in these subjects, while frequently abnormal, was not altered by pharmacological doses of vitamin E.