Human Tissue Distribution of Orally Supplemented Natural Vitamin E Tocotrienol

In nature, there are eight members in the vitamin E family: a-, b-, g- and d-TCP, and a-, b-, g- and d-tocotrienol (TCT). Vitamin E research has developed highly asymmetrically. Out of the 25,000+ papers on vitamin E in the PubMed, 99% deal with tocopherols. Recent research has demonstrated the lack of cancer-preventive effects and potential adverse health consequences of tocopherol (6). As a result, more attention has been turned towards non-tocopherol forms of vitamin E (16). Palm oil represents a major source of natural TCT. TCT possess powerful neuroprotective, antioxidant, anti-cancer and cholesterol lowering properties that often differ from the properties of TCP (15).

During the last five years, our and other laboratories have reported several striking beneficial properties of tocotrienols in experimental settings. One major concern that limits enthusiasm for tocotrienol for humans is the report that the vitamin E transporting protein, tocopherol-transport protein (TTP), has a very low affinity to transport tocotrienol. Using TTP-knock out mice, we have recently demonstrated that oral TCT is effectively carried to vital organs and that such transport can take place independent of TTP. With that background, the purpose of this project is to test the hypothesis that orally supplemented tocotrienol reaches the vital organs of humans.