α‐Tocopherol (α‐T) is the major form of vitamin E (VE) in animals and has the highest activity in carrying out the essential antioxidant functions of VE. Because of the involvement of oxidative ...stress in carcinogenesis, the cancer prevention activity of α‐T has been studied extensively. Lower VE intake or nutritional status has been shown to be associated with increased cancer risk, and supplementation of α‐T to populations with VE insufficiency has shown beneficial effects in lowering the cancer risk in some intervention studies. However, several large intervention studies with α‐T conducted in North America have not demonstrated a cancer prevention effect. More recent studies have centered on the γ‐ and δ‐forms of tocopherols and tocotrienols (T3). In comparison with α‐T, these forms have much lower systemic bioavailability but have shown stronger cancer‐preventive activities in many studies in animal models and cell lines. γ‐T3 and δ‐T3 generally have even higher activities than γ‐T and δ‐T. In this article, we review recent results from human and laboratory studies on the cancer‐preventive activities of different forms of tocopherols and tocotrienols, at nutritional and pharmacological levels. We aim to elucidate the possible mechanisms of the preventive actions and discuss the possible application of the available information for human cancer prevention by different VE forms.
Ferulic acid (FA) and tocopherol (Toc) loaded solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) were prepared by a hot homogenisation method. The particle size distribution, zeta potential and melting behaviour of the ...SLN as well as the stability, encapsulation efficiency and radical scavenging activity of FA and Toc in the SLN were analysed. The different formulations containing up to 2.8 mg g-1 of FA or Toc were stable during at least 15 weeks of storage at room temperature. Despite partial degradation and / or release of FA and Toc during storage, significant radical scavenging activity was maintained. DSC measurements and radical scavenging tests after different time periods revealed that the re-structuring of the lipid matrix was connected to the enhanced antioxidant activity of Toc but did not affect the activity of FA.
This review examines various aspects of vitamin E, both in plant metabolism and with regard to its importance for human health. Vitamin E is the collective name of a group of lipidsoluble compounds, ...chromanols, which are widely distributed in the plant kingdom. Their biosynthetic pathway, intracellular distribution and antioxidant function in plants are well recognized, although their other functions are also considered.
Analytical methods for the determination of vitamin E are discussed in detail. Furthermore, the vitamin E metabolism and its antioxidant action in humans are described. Other nonantioxidant functions of vitamin E are also presented, such as its anti-inflammatory effects, role in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases and cancer, as well as its protective functions against neurodegenerative and other diseases.
The diverse biological activities of tocopherols and their analogs have inspired considerable interest in the development of routes for their efficient asymmetric synthesis. Here, we report that ...chiral ammonium hypoiodite salts catalyze highly chemo- and enantioselective oxidative cyclization of γ-(2-hydroxyphenyl)ketones to 2-acyl chromans bearing a quaternary stereocenter, which serve as productive synthetic intermediates for tocopherols. Raman spectroscopic analysis of a solution of tetrabutylammonium iodide and tert-butyl hydroperoxide revealed the in situ generation of the hypoiodite salt as an unstable catalytic active species and triiodide salt as a stable inert species. A high-performance catalytic oxidation system (turnover number of ∼200) has been achieved through reversible equilibration between hypoiodite and triiodide in the presence of potassium carbonate base. We anticipate that these findings will open further prospects for the development of high-turnover redox organocatalysis.
The naturally occurring α-tocopherol stereoisomer
α-tocopherol is known to be more bioactive than synthetic α-tocopherol (
-α-tocopherol). However, the influence of this difference on the ...α-tocopherol stereoisomer profile of human milk is not understood.
We investigated whether supplemental
α-tocopherol or
-α-tocopherol differentially affected the distribution of α-tocopherol stereoisomers in milk and plasma from lactating women.
Eighty-nine lactating women aged 19-40 y and with a body mass index (in kg/m
) ≤30 were randomly assigned at 4-6 wk postpartum to receive a daily supplement containing 45.5 mg
-α-tocopherol acetate (ARAC), 22.8 mg
-α-tocopherol acetate + 20.1 mg
-α-tocopherol (MIX), or 40.2 mg
α-tocopherol (RRR). Milk and plasma were analyzed for α-tocopherol structural isomers and α-tocopherol stereoisomers at baseline and after 6 wk supplementation with the use of chiral HPLC.
There were no significant treatment group or time-dependent changes in milk or plasma α, γ, or δ-tocopherol.
α-tocopherol was the most abundant stereoisomer in both milk and plasma in each group. Supplementation changed both milk and plasma percentage
α-tocopherol (RRR > MIX > ARAC) (
< 0.05) and percentage non-
α-tocopherol (ARAC > MIX > RRR) (
< 0.05). In the RRR group, percentage
α-tocopherol increased in milk (mean ± SEM: 78% ± 2.3% compared with 82% ± 1.7%) (
0.05) and plasma (mean ± SEM: 77% ± 1.8% compared with 87% ± 1%) (
0.05). In contrast, the percentage
α-tocopherol decreased in the MIX and ARAC groups (MIX,
0.05; ARAC,
0.0001), and percentage non-
α-tocopherol stereoisomers increased (MIX,
0.05; ARAC,
0.0001) commensurate with an accumulation of
α-tocopherol stereoisomers (
< 0.05) in both milk and plasma. Milk and plasma
α-tocopherol was positively correlated at baseline (
= 0.67;
0.0001) and 6 wk (
= 0.80;
0.0001).
The α-tocopherol supplementation strategy differentially affected the α-tocopherol milk and plasma stereoisomer profile in lactating women.
α-tocopherol increased milk and plasma percentage
α-tocopherol, whereas
-α-tocopherol acetate reduced these percentages. Because
α-tocopherol is the most bioactive stereoisomer, investigating the impact of supplement-driven changes in the milk α-tocopherol stereoisomer profile on the α-tocopherol status of breastfed infants is warranted.
The antioxidant activity of tocopherols in vegetable oils was shown to chiefly depend on the amount and the tocopherol homolog present. However, the most effective ratio of tocopherol homologs with ...regard to the antioxidant capacity has not been elucidated so far. The present study analyzed the effect of different tocopherol concentrations, homologs and ratios of homologs on markers of lipid oxidation in the most commonly consumed vegetable oils (canola, sunflower, soybean oil) stored in a 12 h light/dark cycle at 22 ± 2 °C for 56 days under retail/household conditions. After 56 days of storage, the α-tocopherol-rich canola and sunflower oil showed the strongest rise in lipid peroxides, yielding 25.1 ± 0.03 meq O₂/kg (+25.3-fold) and 24.7 ± 0.05 meq O₂/kg (+25.0-fold), respectively. ESR experiments, excluding effects of the oils' matrices and other minor constituents, confirmed that a food representative tocopherol ratio of (γ + δ)/α = 4.77, as represented in soybean oil, led to a more pronounced delay of lipid oxidation than a lower ratio in canola (1.39) and sunflower oil (0.06). An optimum (γ + δ)/α -tocopherol ratio contributing to the oxidative quality of vegetable oils extending their shelf life has to be investigated.
► A reversed-phase HPLC method for all 8 vitamin E congeners was developed. ► Baseline-separation was achieved on a solid-core pentafluorophenyl column. ► All tocopherols and tocotrienols were ...resolved in <15min with a LOD of 27–156pg. ► The method was validated for human plasma and mouse liver tissue. ► Reversed-phase separation of all vitamin E congeners is reported for the first time.
Of the eight natural vitamin E congeners (α-, β-, γ-, and δ-tocopherol and α-, β-, γ-, and δ-tocotrienol), the non-α-tocopherol congeners have unique biological properties that may contribute to human health. Their study in vivo has been complicated by the lack of a simple analytical method that completely resolves and sensitively detects all eight natural tocopherols and tocotrienols in biological matrices. We thus developed and validated (according to the FDA guidelines for bioanalytical method validation) the first reversed-phase liquid chromatographic method for the baseline-separation and quantification of all eight tocopherols and tocotrienols. Analytes were extracted from human plasma or mouse liver and separated on a Phenomenex Kinetex PFP column (2.6μm, 150×4.6mm) by elution with methanol:water (85:15, vol/vol) at a flow rate of 0.8mL/min. The developed RP-LC method used a solid-core pentafluorophenyl stationary phase and achieved baseline separation of all eight vitamin E congeners within 15min at a backpressure of 23MPa, which is suitable for most conventional HPLC systems. The method was fast, linear, accurate, and precise with detection limits of 27–156pg and good recoveries (82–122%) for all analytes. In conclusion, we developed and validated the first RP-LC method for baseline resolution of all eight tocopherols and tocotrienols extracted from plasma and liver, which should be useful for the quantification of individual vitamin E congeners in large epidemiological studies and randomized controlled trials.
Impact of Two Brown Seaweed Zamljen, Tilen; Šircelj, Helena; Veberič, Robert ...
Foods,
01/2024, Volume:
13, Issue:
3
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Algal biostimulants are increasingly integral to vegetable cultivation due to their capacity to boost yield, alleviate abiotic and biotic stress, and enhance overall crop quality. This study ...evaluated the impact of two commercially available algal-based biostimulants on cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.), examining their effects on yield, number of fruits, dry weight, color, flesh thickness, skin thickness, plastid pigments, and tocopherol content. Both biostimulant treatments resulted in a roughly 13% decrease in yield and fruit number compared to the control treatment. Notably, the biostimulants positively influenced the fruit brightness parameter (L*), leading to darker fruits. Fitostimsup.® algal biostimulant exhibited a positive effect on dry weight during the initial harvest. The predominant pigments were chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b (constituting 80% of all analyzed pigments), and the most abundant tocopherol was α-tocopherol, comprising 80% to 90% of tocopherols. Skin tissues contained significantly higher levels of pigments and tocopherols compared to flesh. Both biostimulants caused a notable decrease in total tocopherol content in the skin at the first harvest, with reductions of 19.91 mg/kg DW for Phylgreensup.® and 9.43 mg/kg DW for Fitostimsup.® algae. The study underscores the variable efficacy of biostimulants, emphasizing their dependence on the specific biostimulant type and fruit part. The application of biostimulants has the potential to substantially enhance the internal quality of cucumbers, particularly in terms of plastid pigments and tocopherols, offering potential health benefits for consumers.
Controlled human feeding studies are necessary for robust nutritional biomarker development and validation. Previous feeding studies have typically evaluated single nutrients and tested relatively ...few diets.
The objectives were 1) to simultaneously associate dietary intake with a range of potential nutritional biomarkers in postmenopausal women by using a controlled feeding study whereby each participant was provided a diet similar to her usual diet and 2) to evaluate serum concentrations of select nutrients as potential biomarkers with the use of established urinary recovery biomarkers of energy and protein as benchmarks for evaluation.
Postmenopausal women from the Women's Health Initiative (n = 153) were provided with a 2-wk controlled diet in which each individual's menu approximated her habitual food intake as estimated from her 4-d food record and adjusted for estimated energy requirements. Serum biomarkers, including carotenoids, tocopherols, folate, vitamin B-12, and phospholipid fatty acids, were collected at the beginning and end of the feeding period. Doubly labeled water and urinary nitrogen biomarkers were used to derive estimates of energy and protein consumption, respectively.
Linear regression of (ln-transformed) consumed nutrients on (ln-transformed) potential biomarkers and participant characteristics led to the following regression (R
) values for serum concentration biomarkers: folate, 0.49; vitamin B-12, 0.51; α-carotene, 0.53; β-carotene, 0.39; lutein + zeaxanthin, 0.46; lycopene, 0.32; and α-tocopherol, 0.47. R
values for percentage of energy from polyunsaturated fatty acids and urinary recovery biomarkers of energy and protein intakes were 0.27, 0.53, and 0.43, respectively. Phospholipid saturated fatty acids and monounsaturated fatty acids and serum γ-tocopherol were weakly associated with intake (R
< 0.25).
Serum concentration biomarkers of several vitamins and carotenoids performed similarly to established energy and protein urinary recovery biomarkers in representing nutrient intake variation in a feeding study, and thus are likely suitable for application in this population of postmenopausal women. Further work is needed to identify objective measures of categories of fatty acid intake. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00000611.
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