Assessment of hepatic vitamin E status in adult patients with liver disease

• Published in: Hepatology (Baltimore, Md.) Vol. 26; no. 2; pp. 392 - 397
• Main Authors: Nagita, A, Ando, M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 01.08.1997; Wiley
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Biological and medical sciences; Carrier Proteins - metabolism; Female; Gastroenterology. Liver. Pancreas. Abdomen; Humans; Lipids - analysis; Liver - chemistry; Liver Diseases - metabolism; Liver. Biliary tract. Portal circulation. Exocrine pancreas; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Other diseases. Semiology; Vitamin E - analysis; Human; Pathophysiology; Digestive diseases; Adult; Hepatic disease; Lipids; α-Tocopherol; Lipoprotein; Metabolism; Quantitative analysis
• ISSN: 0270-9139; 1527-3350
• DOI: 10.1002/hep.510260220

No published reports compare hepatic α‐tocopherol (adjusted for hepatic lipid content) with indicators of blood α‐tocopherol in adult patients with various liver diseases. α‐Tocopherol was simultaneously measured in liver biopsy tissues and blood from 66 subjects (9 comparison patients hospitalized for biliary tract surgery, 13 with chronic persistent hepatitis, 9 with chronic aggressive hepatitis, 10 with acute hepatitis, 10 with cirrhosis, 7 with both cirrhosis and hepatic cell carcinoma, and 8 with fatty liver). Hepatic, erythrocyte, and plasma α‐tocopherol concentrations were measured, as were hepatic and serum lipids. The ratios of α‐tocopherol to total lipid concentrations (Toc/TL ratios) in plasma and liver were calculated. In both comparison patients and patients with chronic persistent hepatitis and fatty liver, hepatic α‐tocopherol concentrations were strongly correlated with hepatic triglyceride and total lipid concentrations (r = .72, P < .001; and r = .75, P < .001, respectively); the relationships (slopes) when hepatic α‐tocopherol concentrations were compared with hepatic triglyceride and total lipid concentrations were similar in these patients and in all subjects. No strong correlations were found between hepatic and blood α‐tocopherol parameters in all subjects. These results suggest that hepatic α‐tocopherol is present at similar concentrations in triglycerides as well as total cholesterol and phospholipids and that neither plasma Toc/TL ratios nor erythrocyte α‐tocopherol concentrations are useful indicators of hepatic vitamin E status. The hepatic Toc/TL ratio may be useful to assess total hepatic vitamin E status.