Plasma and tissue levels of vitamin E in sheep following intramuscular administration in an oil carrier.

The bioavailability of two vitamin E preparations (d-alpha-tocopherol and dl-alpha-tocopherol) suspended in sesame oil solution and administered intramuscularly was evaluated in sheep. In sheep administered d-alpha-tocopherol and killed after 360 hr (Group 2), there was a higher (P less than 0.01) bioavailability than for sheep injected with d-alpha-tocopherol (Group 3) or dl-alpha-tocopherol (Group 1) and killed 240 hr after dosing. In the 3 groups (5 sheep each) the highest blood plasma alpha-tocopherol increment occurred in the d-alpha-tocopherol injected sheep. For sheep injected with d-alpha-tocopherol and slaughtered at 360 hr (Group 2) the pancreatic, hepatic, lung, spleen and muscle tocopherol concentrations were higher (P less than 0.05) than in the control group. Also in group 2 there was a tendency for higher tissue tocopherol concentrations than in the other vitamin E treated sheep (Group 1 and 3).