Pharmacology of Vitamin E
Why does your body hold onto one specific form of vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) and get rid of all the others?
College of Health researcher(s)
College unit(s)
Abstract
The mechanisms for the preferential α-tocopherol retention in the human body fall under the usual pharmacologic categories of absorption, disposition, metabolism and catabolism and excretion (ADME). Kinetic studies using α-tocopherol labelled with either radioactive or stable isotopes have been instrumental in our understanding of vitamin E trafficking and status. Additionally, different types of mathematical modelling have yielded novel information. Therefore, I will address each of these topics, what is currently known and not known, emphasizing what has been recently discovered and how the various mechanisms impact clinical disorders.