Effect of vitamin E supplementation on antioxidant defense systems and humoral immune responses in young, middle-aged and elderly Korean women

• Published in: Journal of Nutritional Science and Vitaminology Vol. 49; no. 2; pp. 94 - 99
• Main Authors: Park, O.J. (Hannam Univ., Daejeon (Korea R.)), Kim, H.Y.P, Kim, W.K, Kim, Y.J, Kim, S.H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tokyo Center for Academic Publications Japan 01.04.2003
• Subjects: Adult; ADULTS; Aged; Aging - blood; Aging - drug effects; Aging - immunology; Analysis of Variance; Antibody Formation - drug effects; antioxidant defense; ANTIOXIDANTS; Antioxidants - pharmacology; Biological and medical sciences; Diet; Dietary Supplements - statistics & numerical data; ELDERLY; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; humoral immune response; HUMORAL IMMUNITY; IMMUNE RESPONSE; Immunoglobulins - blood; Immunoglobulins - drug effects; Korea; KOREA REPUBLIC; Middle Aged; Nutrition Policy; Oxidative Stress - drug effects; Oxidoreductases - blood; Oxidoreductases - immunology; radical scavenger activity; SUPPLEMENTS; Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances - metabolism; VITAMIN E; Vitamin E - blood; Vitamin E - immunology; Vitamin E - pharmacology; WOMEN; YOUTH; Korea; vitamin E. radical scavenger activity; antioxidant defense; humoral immune response
• ISSN: 0301-4800; 1881-7742
• DOI: 10.3177/jnsv.49.94

Summary Free radical-mediated oxidative stress has been implicated in the pathogenesis of numerous chronic diseases. Vitamin E is known to play an important role in the free-radical quenching process. However, clinical trials with vitamin E have yielded contrasting results in the prevention of several diseases related to oxidative stress. This study was undertaken to investigate the antioxidative and humoral immunologic effects of vitamin E supplementation in three different age groups: young (mean age 32.7 =+- 5.7y), middle-aged (mean age 47.0 =+- 5.0y) and elderly (67.6 =+- 4.7y) women. Volunteer subjects were given a supplement of 400 IU dl-a-tocopherol acetate for 6 wk. Thiobarbituric acid reacting substances (TBARS) in the plasma significantly decreased with vitamin E supplementation. In addition, the radical scavenger activities (RSA) of red blood cells significantly increased with vitamin E supplementation in all age groups. However, humoral immune response modulation was not observed following vitamin E supplementation. Even though there is no clear indication that vitamin E supplementation is necessary to improve the humoral immune functions, vitamin E supplementation may be beneficial to all adult age groups as a preventive measure for complications related to oxidative damage.