Anti-inflammatory properties of α- and γ-tocopherol

• Published in: Molecular aspects of medicine Vol. 28; no. 5; pp. 668 - 691
• Main Authors: Reiter, Elke, Jiang, Qing, Christen, Stephan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.10.2007
• Subjects: alpha-Tocopherol - pharmacology; Animals; Anti-Inflammatory Agents - pharmacology; Cyclooxygenase; gamma-Tocopherol - pharmacology; Humans; Inflammation; Nuclear factor κB; Protein kinase C; Redox signaling; Vitamin E; CRP; γT; NO; CEHC; Protein kinase C; αT; PGE 2; PHA; ICAM-1; LPS; IFN-γ; Cyclooxygenase; PPAR; Vitamin E; LTB 4; NF κB; Nuclear factor κB; δT; O 2; βT; PMA; Con A; IL-4; IL-5; PKC; SOD; IL-2; PP2A; Inflammation; IL-1β; COX; Redox signaling; IL-6; CVD; H 2O 2; VCAM-1; NOS; LOX; TNF-α; DTH
• ISSN: 0098-2997; 1872-9452
• DOI: 10.1016/j.mam.2007.01.003

Natural vitamin E consists of four different tocopherol and four different tocotrienol homologues (α, β, γ, δ) that all have antioxidant activity. However, recent data indicate that the different vitamin E homologues also have biological activity unrelated to their antioxidant activity. In this review, we discuss the anti-inflammatory properties of the two major forms of vitamin E, α-tocopherol (αT) and γ-tocopherol (γT), and discuss the potential molecular mechanisms involved in these effects. While both tocopherols exhibit anti-inflammatory activity in vitro and in vivo, supplementation with mixed (γT-enriched) tocopherols seems to be more potent than supplementation with αT alone. This may explain the mostly negative outcomes of the recent large-scale interventional chronic disease prevention trials with αT only and thus warrants further investigation.