Vitamin E Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Vitamin E, including details on benefits, dosage, supplements, antioxidants.

Vitamin E provides protection for bone in mature hindlimb unloaded male rats.

Smith BJ, Lucas EA, Turner RT, Evans GL, Lerner MR, Brackett DJ, Stoecker BJ, Arjmandi BH

Department of Surgery, Research University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, O'Donoghue Research Building, room 335, 1122 N.E. 13th St., Oklahoma City, OK 73117, USA. brenda-smith@ouhsc.edu

The deleterious effects of skeletal unloading on bone mass and strength may, in part, result from increased production of oxygen-derived free radicals and proinflammatory cytokines. This study was designed to evaluate the ability of vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol), a free-radical scavenger with antiinflammatory properties, to protect against bone loss caused by skeletal unloading in mature male Sprague-Dawley rats. A 2 x 3 factorial design was used with either hindlimb unloading (HU) or normal loading (ambulatory; AMB), and low-dose (LD; 15 IU/kg diet), adequate-dose (AD; 75 IU/kg diet), or high-dose (HD; 500 IU/kg diet) vitamin E (DL-alpha-tocopherol acetate). To optimize the effects of vitamin E on bone, dietary treatments were initiated 9 weeks prior to unloading and continued during the 4-week unloading period, at which time animals were euthanized and blood and tissue samples were collected. Serum vitamin E was dose-dependently increased, confirming the vitamin E status of animals. The HD treatment improved oxidation parameters, as indicated by elevated serum ferric-reducing ability and a trend toward reducing tissue lipid peroxidation. Histomorphometric analysis of the distal femur revealed significant reductions in trabecular thickness (TbTh), double-labeled surface (dLS/BS), and rate of bone formation to bone volume (BFR/BV) due by HU. AMB animals on the HD diet and HU animals on the LD diet had reduced bone surface normalized to tissue volume (BS/TV) and trabecular number (TbN); however, the HD vitamin E protected against these changes in the HU animals. Our findings suggest that vitamin E supplementation provides modest bone protective effects during skeletal unloading.

Published 7 July 2005 in Calcif Tissue Int, 76(4): 272-9.
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