Vitamin E boosts body's defence system

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Vitamin E boosts body's defence system

 

20/09/2004 - Scientists have found that vitamin E improves the

function of the liver and thereby strengthens the body's defence system.

 

Researchers working for DSM Nutritional Products (DNP) have discovered

that dietary vitamin E significantly stimulates the hepatic (liver)

production of glutathione, which is the body's major line of defence

against free radicals and potentially harmful agents and metabolites.

 

Free radicals and metabolites are produced continuously in the human

body, as – for example - a consequence of normal metabolic processes

and a result of physical activities, diseases, smoking, alcohol

consumption and from the exposure to environmental pollution and

UV-light. They are also negatively involved in the aging process.

 

If these free radicals are not inactivated they can damage the body.

Glutathion, which is produced in the liver, protects the body by

neutralizing these aggressive agents.

 

In the DNP study, rats were fed a diet supplemented with or without

vitamin E for nine months. Using nutrigenomics, that enable scientists

to monitor the activity of thousands of genes, scientists revealed,

among other things, that vitamin E stimulates the activity of two key

enzymes - glutamyl-cysteinyl-synthase and glutathione synthetase -

both important for the production of gluthatione, the body's defense

system.

 

Further analysis of the glutathione concentration in the liver

confirmed that animals supplemented with vitamin E had significantly

enhanced production of glutathione - thereby increasing the body's

major line of defense against toxic substances.

 

These results reveal that the well recognized antioxidant and

protective activities of vitamin E are not only dependent on its own

chemical properties but also on its ability to enhance the body's own

antioxidant network by glutathione synthesis. In addition this study

illustrates the importance of vitamin E for the correct functioning of

the liver.

 

This study was published in the BBA Molecular Basis of Disease (05/04).

 

Demand for vitamin E is being driven by the feed market (70 per cent

of global supply goes to animal nutrition) but also by new research

supporting its use in dietary supplements and increasing cosmetic

applications. Current growth is expected to be sustained for " at least

the next five years, " noted Bob Hartmayer, chief operating officer of

DSM Nutritional Products.