Nutrapharmacology of Tocotrienols for Metabolic Syndrome

Abstract

Metabolic syndrome is defined as a set of health risk factors that are associated with an increased chance of cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes. These include abdominal obesity, hyperglycemia, impaired glucose tolerance, dyslipidemia, and hypertension. Interventions in metabolic syndrome include lifestyle interventions such as a healthy diet using functional foods together with increased physical activity to induce weight loss as the first aim of treatment. Nutraceuticals such as tocotrienols and tocopherols as members of the vitamin E family may be more targeted interventions. This review evaluates the effects of tocotrienols on the risk factors of metabolic syndrome using data from human, animal and in vitro studies. Tocotrienols improved lipid profiles and reduced atherosclerotic lesions, decreased blood glucose and glycated hemoglobin concentrations, normalized blood pressure, and inhibited adipogenesis. The differences in responses between tocopherols and tocotrienols in preventing obesity, diabetes, hypertension, atherosclerosis, ischemia, and inflammation suggest that different receptors or signaling mechanisms may be involved.

Anti-inflammatory γ- and δ-tocotrienols improve cardiovascular, liver and metabolic function in diet-induced obese rats

“…Delivery of oral tocotrienols to vital organs is the key determinant of the overall efficacy of oral tocotrienols in these tissues, rather than the concentrations in plasma. Significant amounts of tocotrienols delivered to the vital organs indicated effective tocotrienol transport systems in vivo, independent of α-tocopherol transfer protein [15,47]. The evidence that tocotrienols accumulated in vital organs supports future studies to identify specific mechanisms of tissue delivery and metabolism of tocotrienols.…”

“…Vitamin E is a group of closely related tocochromanol phytochemicals including the tocopherols and tocotrienols, for example, from edible plant products such as palm oil, rice bran and wheat germ, with potential cardiovascular and metabolic health-promoting properties [15]. They share a common chroman-6-ol ring with the tocopherols having a saturated phytyl side chain, differing from the geranylgeranyl side chain with three double bonds in the tocotrienols.…”

Targeting caveolin-3 for the treatment of diabetic cardiomyopathy

“…HbA1c levels and improve parameters associated with metabolic syndrome (Weng-Yew & Brown, 2011). High-fat fed rats given tocotrienols showed improved glucose and insulin tolerance and…”

Vitamin E As a Potential Interventional Treatment for Metabolic Syndrome: Evidence from Animal and Human Studies

“…Obesity and dyslipidemia induce abnormal growth of adipose tissue, contributing to the overproduction of inflammatory mediators [particularly TNF-α, IL-6, and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β)] and activation of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) (Weng-Yew and Brown, 2011). Hyperglycemia leads to increased production of AGEs, which enhance the synthesis of pro-inflammatory cytokines in monocytes and macrophages.…”