Abstract
To investigate metabolic alterations during vitamin E-deficiency, the content of lipid peroxides and lipids in liver and plasma was determined using vitamin E-deficient rats, and its results were as follows : Lipid peroxide in the liver from vitamin E-deficient rats increased about 3 times over the control group, and the value returned to the normal level after intraperitoneal administration of vitamin E in a dose of 50mg/kg/day for 6 days, but that in plasma was almost constant. In vitamin E-deficiency, C16 : 1, C18 : 1, and C20 : 4 increased mainly in triglycerides (TG) in liver lipids. C18 : 2 decreased in the fractions of phospholipids but not in TG fraction. On the other hand, in plasma from vitamin E-deficient rats, C18 : 1 increased and C18 : 2 decreased in all the fractions of lipids. Decrease of C20 : 4 was found in phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and phosphatidylcholine (PC) in plasma lipids. Free fatty acids of plasma in vitamin E-deficiency increased by approx. 76%, and TG content increased about 73% in the liver and 35% in the plasma. The total cholesterol content of the liver and plasma from vitamin E-deficient rats increased about 55 and 20%, respectively. The content of phospholipids in the liver and plasma showed little change in vitamin E-deficiency.
