Modification of sympathetic nervous system activity in rat tissues by dietary vitamin E.

Noradrenaline content and turnover rate were measured in sympathetically innervated tissues of adult male rats that were fed diets varying in alpha-tocopherol for 10 to 11 weeks. At the end of the feeding period, increasing amounts of vitamin E increased the levels of noradrenaline in liver and white adipose tissue but no differences were observed in heart and interscapular brown adipose tissue. By contrast, increased amounts of dietary vitamin E decreased both the rate constant for the decline of specific activity of noradrenaline with time and the noradrenaline turnover rate in heart and brown adipose tissue. No significant differences were observed in these parameters in liver and white adipose tissue. These results indicate that vitamin E in the diet may affect activity of the sympathetic nervous system.