Department of Oncology, Kagoshima University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima 890-8544, Japan.
Curr Pharm Des. 2011;17(21):2190-5. doi: 10.2174/138161211796957490.
It is well known that vitamin E functions as an antioxidant, and it is expected to exert an antioxidant effect when taken as a supplement. However, a number of cohort studies have shown that vitamin E does not alleviate oxidative stress and could even worsen it. Recently, Wang et al. investigated whether vitamin E intake was associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) based on data from 5 cohort studies with 1,055,546 participants, of which 805 of them had developed ALS. They concluded in this large pooled prospective study, in which long-term vitamin E supplementation was associated with lower ALS rates, and therefore, a possible protective effect of vitamin E deserves further consideration. Performing further large cohort studies may reveal similar findings for other oxidative stress-related diseases. It is still controversial if antioxidants such as vitamin E provide a clinical therapeutic effect against oxidative stress-related diseases. If effective, the dose at which they should be administered and the duration of supplement exposure should be of interest. Vitamin E reduces production of reactive oxygen species by mitochondria and elicits further reactions in cells. It should be noted that mitochondria are important targets for vitamin E and its homologues. Therefore, a proper usage of vitamin E in subjects under high oxidative stress, due to its individually targeting property, will arise its importance in healthy life.
众所周知，维生素 E 具有抗氧化作用，作为补充剂服用时有望发挥抗氧化作用。然而，许多队列研究表明，维生素 E 并不能减轻氧化应激，甚至可能使其恶化。最近，Wang 等人基于来自 5 项队列研究（共 1,055,546 名参与者，其中 805 名参与者患有肌萎缩侧索硬化症）的数据，调查了维生素 E 摄入是否与肌萎缩侧索硬化症（ALS）有关。他们在这项大型前瞻性研究中得出结论，长期补充维生素 E 与较低的 ALS 发病率相关，因此，维生素 E 可能具有保护作用，值得进一步研究。开展进一步的大型队列研究可能会揭示其他与氧化应激相关的疾病的类似发现。抗氧化剂如维生素 E 是否对氧化应激相关疾病具有临床治疗效果仍存在争议。如果有效，应关注其给药剂量和补充暴露时间。维生素 E 通过线粒体减少活性氧的产生，并在细胞中引发进一步的反应。需要注意的是，线粒体是维生素 E 及其同源物的重要靶标。因此，由于其靶向特性，在处于高氧化应激状态的受试者中正确使用维生素 E 将使其在健康生活中变得更加重要。
