Plasma creatine kinase isozyme electrophoretic pattern of long-term vitamin E-deficient rats.

Weanling male Sprague Dawley rats were fed a vitamin E-deficient basal diet with or without supplementation of 100 IU/kg diet of vitamin E for 12 months. The isozyme pattern of creatine kinase (CPK) in plasma was determined electrophoretically. The CPK activity of the plasma of control rats averaged 43.2 nmoles/min/ml and was predominantly CPK3 isozyme, while that of the plasma of vitamin E-deficient rats averaged 100.8 nmoles/min/ml and consisted of CPK2 and CPK3 isozymes. The results suggest that the increased CPK activity in the plasma of vitamin E-deficient rats may originate from heart and skeletal muscle degeneration.