A metabolomic investigation of the effects of vitamin e supplementation in humans

29Citations
Citations of this article
53Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

This article is free to access.

Abstract

Background: Vitamin E is a nutrient with both antioxidant and non-antioxidant activities and has been shown to modulate the function of a number of cell types in vitro and in human studies. However studies have also shown vitamin E to have detrimental interactions and therefore it is important to establish the extent to which this nutrient influences metabolism. Metabolomics can potentially identify nutrient-metabolism interactions and therefore the aim of this study was to use a non-targeted metabolomic approach to identify changes to the plasma metabolome following vitamin E supplementation in humans. Methods. A relatively homogenous healthy adult male population (n = 10) provided a fasting blood sample immediately before and after a 4-week vitamin E supplementation regime (400 mg/d of RRR-tocopheryl acetate)) on top of their habitual diet. Plasma samples were analysed for vitamin E and clinical markers. Plasma underwent non-targeted metabolite profiling using liquid chromatography/mass spectroscopy and data was processed using multivariate statistical analysis. Results: Plasma vitamin E concentrations were significantly increased following supplementation (p < 0.001). A partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) model was able to discriminate between samples taken pre and post vitamin E supplementation (goodness of fit R2Y = 0.82, predictive ability Q2 = 0.50). Variable influence on projection and PLS-DA loadings highlighted a number of discriminating ions that were confirmed as discriminatory through pairwise analysis. From database searches and comparison with standards these metabolites included a number of lysophosphatidylcholine species (16:0, 18:0, 18:1, 18:2, 20:3 and 22:6) that were increased in intensity post supplementation by varying degrees from 4% to 29% with the greatest changes found for lysoPC 22:6 and 20:3. Conclusions: Although a small scale study, these results potentially indicate that vitamin E supplementation influences phospholipid metabolism and induces lysoPC generation; a general pro-inflammatory response. Moreover the study identifies novel areas of vitamin E interactions and highlights the potential of metabolomics for elucidating interactions between nutrients and metabolic pathways in nutritional research. © 2012 Wong and Lodge; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Wong, M., & Lodge, J. K. (2012). A metabolomic investigation of the effects of vitamin e supplementation in humans. Nutrition and Metabolism, 9. https://doi.org/10.1186/1743-7075-9-110

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free