Skip to main content
PMC home page
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1994 Oct 11;91(21):10005–10008. doi: 10.1073/pnas.91.21.10005

Human plasma vitamin E kinetics demonstrate rapid recycling of plasma RRR-alpha-tocopherol.

M G Traber 1, R Ramakrishnan 1, H J Kayden 1
PMCID: PMC44946  PMID: 7937827

Abstract

A kinetic model of vitamin E transport in humans is described using data from our studies with deuterium-labeled stereoisomers of alpha-tocopherol (RRR- and SRR-). In normal subjects, both alpha-tocopherols are present at similar concentrations in chylomicrons, but by 24 hr, RRR-alpha-tocopherol is at higher plasma concentrations because RRR-alpha-tocopherol is preferentially incorporated into very low density lipoproteins, which are then secreted into plasma. In three nondiscriminator patients with familial isolated vitamin E deficiency, the fractional disappearance rates (mean +/- SD) of deuterium-labeled RRR- and SRR-alpha-tocopherols in plasma were 1.4 +/- 0.6 and 1.3 +/- 0.3 pools per day, respectively (difference, 0.1 +/- 0.3). In these patients, plasma concentrations of both RRR- and SRR-alpha-tocopherols decreased similarly to SRR-alpha-tocopherol in controls. In six controls, fractional disappearance rates of deuterium-labeled RRR-alpha-tocopherol (0.4 +/- 0.1 pool per day) were significantly (P < 0.01) slower than for SRR- (1.2 +/- 0.6). The differences (0.8 +/- 0.6 pool per day) between these two rates in controls estimate the rate at which RRR-alpha-tocopherol, which had left the plasma, was returned to the plasma. Although plasma labeled RRR-alpha-tocopherol concentrations in controls appear to change slowly, these data show that both RRR- and SRR-alpha-tocopherols leave the plasma rapidly, but only RRR-alpha-tocopherol is returned to the plasma, likely in nascent very low density lipoproteins. This recycling of RRR-alpha-tocopherol accounts for nearly 1 pool of alpha-tocopherol per day.

Full text

PDF
10008

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Arad Y., Ramakrishnan R., Ginsberg H. N. Lovastatin therapy reduces low density lipoprotein apoB levels in subjects with combined hyperlipidemia by reducing the production of apoB-containing lipoproteins: implications for the pathophysiology of apoB production. J Lipid Res. 1990 Apr;31(4):567–582. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Ben Hamida C., Doerflinger N., Belal S., Linder C., Reutenauer L., Dib C., Gyapay G., Vignal A., Le Paslier D., Cohen D. Localization of Friedreich ataxia phenotype with selective vitamin E deficiency to chromosome 8q by homozygosity mapping. Nat Genet. 1993 Oct;5(2):195–200. doi: 10.1038/ng1093-195. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bjornson L. K., Gniewkowski C., Kayden H. J. Comparison of exchange of alpha-tocopherol and free cholesterol between rat plasma lipoproteins and erythrocytes. J Lipid Res. 1975 Jan;16(1):39–53. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Egusa G., Beltz W. F., Grundy S. M., Howard B. V. Influence of obesity on the metabolism of apolipoprotein B in humans. J Clin Invest. 1985 Aug;76(2):596–603. doi: 10.1172/JCI112011. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Kayden H. J., Traber M. G. Absorption, lipoprotein transport, and regulation of plasma concentrations of vitamin E in humans. J Lipid Res. 1993 Mar;34(3):343–358. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Kelleher J., Losowsky M. S. The absorption of alpha-tocopherol in man. Br J Nutr. 1970 Dec;24(4):1033–1047. doi: 10.1079/bjn19700106. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Kesaniemi Y. A., Beltz W. F., Grundy S. M. Comparison of clofibrate and caloric restriction on kinetics of very low density lipoprotein triglycerides. Arteriosclerosis. 1985 Mar-Apr;5(2):153–161. doi: 10.1161/01.atv.5.2.153. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Kuhlenkamp J., Ronk M., Yusin M., Stolz A., Kaplowitz N. Identification and purification of a human liver cytosolic tocopherol binding protein. Protein Expr Purif. 1993 Oct;4(5):382–389. doi: 10.1006/prep.1993.1050. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. MacMahon M. T., Neale G. The absorption of alpha-tocopherol in control subjects and in patients with intestinal malabsorption. Clin Sci. 1970 Feb;38(2):197–210. doi: 10.1042/cs0380197. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Murphy D. J., Mavis R. D. Membrane transfer of alpha-tocopherol. Influence of soluble alpha-tocopherol-binding factors from the liver, lung, heart, and brain of the rat. J Biol Chem. 1981 Oct 25;256(20):10464–10468. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Rimm E. B., Stampfer M. J., Ascherio A., Giovannucci E., Colditz G. A., Willett W. C. Vitamin E consumption and the risk of coronary heart disease in men. N Engl J Med. 1993 May 20;328(20):1450–1456. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199305203282004. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Sato Y., Arai H., Miyata A., Tokita S., Yamamoto K., Tanabe T., Inoue K. Primary structure of alpha-tocopherol transfer protein from rat liver. Homology with cellular retinaldehyde-binding protein. J Biol Chem. 1993 Aug 25;268(24):17705–17710. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Sato Y., Hagiwara K., Arai H., Inoue K. Purification and characterization of the alpha-tocopherol transfer protein from rat liver. FEBS Lett. 1991 Aug 19;288(1-2):41–45. doi: 10.1016/0014-5793(91)80999-j. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Stampfer M. J., Hennekens C. H., Manson J. E., Colditz G. A., Rosner B., Willett W. C. Vitamin E consumption and the risk of coronary disease in women. N Engl J Med. 1993 May 20;328(20):1444–1449. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199305203282003. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Traber M. G., Burton G. W., Hughes L., Ingold K. U., Hidaka H., Malloy M., Kane J., Hyams J., Kayden H. J. Discrimination between forms of vitamin E by humans with and without genetic abnormalities of lipoprotein metabolism. J Lipid Res. 1992 Aug;33(8):1171–1182. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Traber M. G., Burton G. W., Ingold K. U., Kayden H. J. RRR- and SRR-alpha-tocopherols are secreted without discrimination in human chylomicrons, but RRR-alpha-tocopherol is preferentially secreted in very low density lipoproteins. J Lipid Res. 1990 Apr;31(4):675–685. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Traber M. G. Determinants of plasma vitamin E concentrations. Free Radic Biol Med. 1994 Feb;16(2):229–239. doi: 10.1016/0891-5849(94)90148-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Traber M. G., Lane J. C., Lagmay N. R., Kayden H. J. Studies on the transfer of tocopherol between lipoproteins. Lipids. 1992 Sep;27(9):657–663. doi: 10.1007/BF02536020. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Traber M. G., Olivecrona T., Kayden H. J. Bovine milk lipoprotein lipase transfers tocopherol to human fibroblasts during triglyceride hydrolysis in vitro. J Clin Invest. 1985 May;75(5):1729–1734. doi: 10.1172/JCI111883. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Traber M. G., Rudel L. L., Burton G. W., Hughes L., Ingold K. U., Kayden H. J. Nascent VLDL from liver perfusions of cynomolgus monkeys are preferentially enriched in RRR- compared with SRR-alpha-tocopherol: studies using deuterated tocopherols. J Lipid Res. 1990 Apr;31(4):687–694. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Traber M. G., Sokol R. J., Burton G. W., Ingold K. U., Papas A. M., Huffaker J. E., Kayden H. J. Impaired ability of patients with familial isolated vitamin E deficiency to incorporate alpha-tocopherol into lipoproteins secreted by the liver. J Clin Invest. 1990 Feb;85(2):397–407. doi: 10.1172/JCI114452. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Traber M. G., Sokol R. J., Kohlschütter A., Yokota T., Muller D. P., Dufour R., Kayden H. J. Impaired discrimination between stereoisomers of alpha-tocopherol in patients with familial isolated vitamin E deficiency. J Lipid Res. 1993 Feb;34(2):201–210. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Yoshida H., Yusin M., Ren I., Kuhlenkamp J., Hirano T., Stolz A., Kaplowitz N. Identification, purification, and immunochemical characterization of a tocopherol-binding protein in rat liver cytosol. J Lipid Res. 1992 Mar;33(3):343–350. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America are provided here courtesy of National Academy of Sciences

RESOURCES