Effects of Dietary Vitamin E Supplementation in Bladder Function and Spasticity during Spinal Cord Injury

Abstract

Traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) results in debilitating autonomic dysfunctions, paralysis and significant sensorimotor impairments. A key component of SCI is the generation of free radicals that contributes to the high levels of oxidative stress observed. This study investigates whether dietary supplementation with the antioxidant vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) improves functional recovery after SCI. Female adult Sprague-Dawley rats were fed either with a normal diet or a dietary regiment supplemented with vitamin E (51 IU/g) for eight weeks. The rats were subsequently exposed either to a contusive SCI or sham operation, and evaluated using standard functional behavior analysis. We report that the rats that consumed the vitamin E-enriched diet showed an accelerated bladder recovery and significant improvements in locomotor function relative to controls, as determined by residual volumes and Basso, Beatie, and Bresnaham BBB scores, respectively. Interestingly, the prophylactic dietary intervention did not preserve neurons in the ventral horn of injured rats, but it significantly increased the numbers of oligodendrocytes. Vitamin E supplementation attenuated the depression of the H-reflex (a typical functional consequence of SCI) while increasing the levels of supraspinal serotonin immunoreactivity. Our findings support the potential complementary use of vitamin E to ameliorate sensory and autonomic dysfunctions associated with spinal cord injury, and identified promising new cellular and functional targets of its neuroprotective effects.

Current Developments in Antioxidant Therapies for Spinal Cord Injury

“…In SCI patients, dietary supplementation for 3 months, which included three 750 mg per day of omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants (400 mg of mixed tocopherols, coenzyme Q10, curcumin, etc. ), caused a decrease of inflammatory cytokines with reduction in neuropathic pain [153]; 2 months vitamin E dietary supplementation 765-1020 IU/day in rats before SCI showed accelerated bladder recovery, significant motor improvement, and a high number of oligodendrocytes compared to the controls [154].…”

The beneficial effects of alpha‐tocopherol on intestinal function and the expression of tight junction proteins in differentiated segments of the intestine in piglets

“…A recent study demonstrated that α‐tocopherol reduces the triglyceride and cholesterol‐lowering effects of rice bran tocotrienol in rats fed a Western diet (Shibata et al, 2016 ). α‐Tocopherol promotes barrier function and anti‐inflammatory responses by binding to the regulatory domains of protein kinase Cα (PKCα), a regulator and antagonist of heart failure, and decreases the activation of the pro‐inflammatory transcription factor NF‐κB, which results in cytokines and mast cell activation (Cordero et al, 2018 ; Tettamanti et al, 2018 ). Surprisingly, our findings show that α‐tocopherol has no effect on inflammatory factors in normal small intestinal epithelial cells, implying that this increase in tight junction protein expression is irrelevant to the inflammatory pathway under normal healthy conditions.…”

Antioxidant Therapy in Oxidative Stress-Induced Neurodegenerative Diseases: Role of Nanoparticle-Based Drug Delivery Systems in Clinical Translation

“…They have been found to inhibit the expression of proapoptotic proteins (Bax and Caspase-3), increase the level of antiapoptotic protein (Bcl-2), reduce the level of MDA, and improve the activities of SOD and GSH (e.g., CoQ10) [ 236 ]. For example, the rats with SCI treated with vitamin E-enriched diet showed accelerated bladder recovery and improved locomotor function [ 237 ]. Treatment either with β-carotene or lycopene was also shown to reduce oxidative damage, mitochondrial dysfunction, cell apoptosis, and hind limb motor disturbances [ 238 ].…”