College of Public Health and Human Sciences

The molecular mechanisms for the human vitamin E (α-tocopherol) requirement are unknown. In this issue of The Journal of Nutrition, Rhodes et al. (1) compared natural and synthetic vitamin E during pregnancy and lactation in mice for their studies on gene regulation in offspring brain vitamin E. These studies represent an important step forward because it is unknown how the brain acquires vitamin E, how it is trafficked within the brain, or how the brain compared with other tissues more effectively retains vitamin E during deficiency (2).