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Department of Zoology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
2To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Vitamin E is an efficient antioxidant and a modulator of the immune
system. Although racial differences in both baseline vitamin E level
and immunologic subsets are known, no reliable data exist for the Asian
population. Furthermore, the extent of the effect of
-tocopherol in
protecting lymphocyte cells against oxidative stress and its
association with cell-mediated immunity have not been elucidated.
This study was undertaken to investigate the immunologic and
antioxidant effects of vitamin E in healthy ethnic Chinese men and
women. Volunteers < 35 y old (n = 26)
were supplemented with 233 mg/d dl-
-tocopherol for
28 d. The in vitro proliferative response to phytohemagglutinin
(PHA) or lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of T-lymphocytes was determined
in the study group before and after vitamin E supplementation.
Cell-mediated immunity subsets and hydrogen peroxide production in
T-lymphocytes were investigated by flow cytometry. The
oxidant-antioxidant balance in plasma and urine was studied by
spectrophotometric and gas chromatography-mass selective detection
methods. The antioxidant properties of vitamin E were established
(P < 0.01) by the elevation of plasma vitamin E,
together with depression in both plasma malondialdehyde and urinary DNA
adduct 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine after supplementation. Our data
suggest a specific requirement for vitamin E in total-T and
T-helper cell proliferation. We present the first evidence of the
beneficial effects of supplemental vitamin E in healthy Chinese
individuals on cell-mediated immunity and oxidative stress.
KEY WORDS: vitamin E free radicals immunity oxidative stress humans
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