Taking vitamin E sometimes with adverse effects

Why vitamin E effect is often a matter of luck

According to health experts, vitamin E should slow down skin aging, relieve joint wear in rheumatism and osteoarthritis and even protect against cancer and cardiovascular diseases. But researchers now report that the administration of this vitamin does not always have the same effects and is sometimes associated with adverse effects.

Protection against serious diseases

Nutrition experts advise regular consumption of hazelnuts. Because these are a perfect source of vitamin E. This vitamin is attributed numerous health benefits. Among other things, it is supposed to relieve symptoms of rheumatism and arthrosis and even protect against cancer and cardiovascular diseases. In addition, scientists found that it provides protection against oxidative stress. But researchers now report that the administration of vitamin E does not always have the same effects.

The intake of vitamin E as a capsule or tablet does not always have the same effects. In addition, it is sometimes associated with adverse effects. (Image: Gina Sanders / fotolia.com)

Vitamin E can also hurt

Scientists have been researching the effects of vitamin E, or alpha-tocopherol, for almost 100 years, and have largely clarified the chemical basics.

"Vitamin E is an antioxidant, it neutralizes cell-damaging free radicals," explains PD Dr. med. Andreas Koeberle from the Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena in a communication.

However, although this has been well documented in cell and animal models under laboratory conditions, vitamin E has not been shown to be successful in clinical trials:

"Here we find very heterogeneous results," says Koeberle. "Not only does the positive effects often not come in the expected strength, sometimes the administration of vitamin E even shows detrimental effects," explains the biochemist from the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry.

Effect is not based on the vitamin itself

Dr. Koeberle and his colleagues have now found a possible cause for this.

In a broad interdisciplinary study, the Jena research team, together with partners from France, Austria, Italy and Germany, has shown that the effect of vitamin E, taken as a tablet or capsule, is not on the vitamin itself, but on a metabolite is based.

This substance, called alpha-carboxychromanol, has a promising anti-inflammatory effect.

The study results were recently published in the journal Nature Communications.

Personalized medicine offers great benefits

Alpha-carboxychromanol is produced in the liver. "To what extent this happens, however, varies from patient to patient," explains Prof. Dr. med. Oliver Werz, who joined the study together with Dr. med. Koeberle has headed.

As the researchers have shown, the level of the metabolite in the blood of subjects has a very large individual span.

"If the effect of vitamin E depends on the extent to which the bioactive metabolite is formed, it explains very well why the same amount of vitamin E may have a certain effect in one person and a significantly lower one in another" Werz.

According to the pharmacist, this demonstrates the great benefits that personalized medicine has to offer. "If we characterize a patient's metabolism beforehand, a therapeutic success - not only for vitamin E - can be achieved much more precisely."

Active substance for the treatment of inflammatory diseases

In the present study, the scientists have studied in detail the anti-inflammatory potential of alpha-carboxychromanol. The bioactive metabolite inhibits a key enzyme in inflammatory processes (5-lipoxygenase, 5-LO for short).

According to Koeberle, this is a promising finding, because the 5-LO plays a central role in inflammatory diseases such as asthma or arthritis.

"So far, however, there is only one approved drug that inhibits the 5-LO, but due to severe side effects can be used only very limited."

The Jena researchers want to use their findings to develop a new drug candidate for the treatment of inflammatory diseases. A first alpha-carboxychromanol-derived candidate is already patented, Koeberle said. (Ad)