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α‐Tocopherol Affects Androgen Metabolism in Male Rat
Author(s) -
BARELLA LUCA,
ROTA CRISTINA,
STÖCKLIN ELISABETH,
RIMBACH GERALD
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1196/annals.1331.036
Subject(s) - endocrinology , medicine , reductase , vitamin e , chemistry , vitamin , cholesterol , coenzyme a , steroid , hormone , metabolism , steroid hormone , vitamin d and neurology , biochemistry , biology , enzyme , antioxidant
A bstract : The Alpha‐Tocopherol Beta‐Carotene Cancer Prevention Study has provided the first evidence implicating vitamin E in hormone synthesis. The effect of vitamin E on stereoidogenesis in testes and adrenal glands was assessed in growing rats using Affymetrix gene‐chip technology. Dietary supplementation of rats with vitamin E (60 mg/kg feed) for a period of 429 days caused a significant repression of genes encoding for proteins centrally involved in the uptake (low‐density lipoprotein receptor) and de novo synthesis (for example, 7‐dehydrocholesterol reductase, 3‐hydroxy‐3‐methylglutaryl coenzyme A synthase, 3‐hydroxy‐3‐methylglutaryl‐coenzyme A reductase, isopentenyl‐diphosphate delta‐isomerase, and farnesyl pyrophosphate synthetase) of cholesterol, the precursor of all steroid hormones. The present investigation indicates that dietary vitamin E may induce changes in stereoidogenesis by affecting cholesterol homeostasis.