Thirty men and women received vitamin E supplements daily for 8 weeks, while others received placebo, in a study to determine the potential antioxidant effects of vitamin E. Previous studies have suggested that vitamin E supplementation may help protect against illnesses such as cancer and Alzheimer's disease, which are believed to result from accumulated free radical damage to tissues. Physicians measured the impact of vitamin E on three indices of lipid peroxidation, an indicator of oxidative stress in cells and tissues. These indices included urinary 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE), and two isoprostanes, iPF2-III and iPF2-VI, which were measured by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. The study failed to find an impact of vitamin E on any of the three measurements.
Source
- Meagher, E.A. et al. Journal of the American Medical Association. 2001;285:1178-1182.
