The Role of Vitamin E in Immunity

Abstract

Vitamin E is a fat-soluble antioxidant that can protect the polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in the membrane from oxidation, regulate the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS), and modulate signal transduction. Immunomodulatory effects of vitamin E have been observed in animal and human models under normal and disease conditions. With advances in understating of the development, function, and regulation of dendritic cells (DCs), macrophages, natural killer (NK) cells, T cells, and B cells, recent studies have focused on vitamin E’s effects on specific immune cells. This review will summarize the immunological changes observed with vitamin E intervention in animals and humans, and then describe the cell-specific effects of vitamin E in order to understand the mechanisms of immunomodulation and implications of vitamin E for immunological diseases.

Influence of Diet and Nutrition on Prostate Cancer

“…Vitamin E includes tocopherols and tocotrienols, and depending on their presence or absence and the position of the methyl group, they are further classified into four different isoforms: α, β, γ, and δ. Vegetable oils contain high amounts of vitamin E [86]. In particular, soybean, sunflower, corn, walnut, cottonseed, palm, and wheat-germ oils are rich in vitamin E, with the proportions of its isoforms varying depending on the type of oil.…”

Influence of Colostrum and Vitamins A, D3, and E on Early Intestinal Colonization of Neonatal Holstein Calves Infected with Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis

“…Calves in the present study had more than adequate serum levels of retinol, 25-(OH)-D 3 , and α-tocopherol by day 14, averaging 255 ng/mL, 97 ng/mL, and 2800 µg/mL, respectively [16], suggesting that deficiency of vitamin E was not the causative factor for this trend. Although vitamin E plays significant roles as an anti-oxidant and an immunomodulatory agent [40,41], a comprehensive study of dairy cows in the Netherlands found that feeding 3000 IU/day of vitamin E combined with high plasma levels of vitamin E at dry-off led to an increased incidence of mastitis [42]. Therefore, high levels of supplemental vitamin E for protracted periods may be detrimental to the host, with a suggested role as a pro-oxidant at high doses.…”

The Potential for Natural Antioxidant Supplementation in the Early Stages of Neurodegenerative Disorders

“…Vitamin E includes four isoforms of tocopherols (α, β, γ and δ) and four tocotrienols (α, β, γ and δ). These isoforms cannot be mutually converted and only α-tocopherol meets the need for vitamin E of the human body [51]. The antioxidant property of vitamin E is attributed to the hydroxyl group of the aromatic ring, which gives up one hydrogen atom thus neutralizing radicals or reactive species.…”