Effect of Vitamin E Supplementation on the Immune Response during Chemically Induced Hepatocarcinogenesis in the Rat

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The effect of vitamin E (Vit E), both α-tocopherol (α-T) and γ-tocotrienol (γ-T3), supplementation on splenocyte proliferation and phagocytic activity of peritoneal macrophages in rats treated with diethylnitrosamine (DEN) and 2-acetylaminofluorene (AAF) was investigated. Splenocyte proliferation in response to concanavalin A or phytohemagglutinin and phagocytic activity of peritoneal macrophages in the DEN/AAF-treated rats were significantly reduced compared with the control levels. In contrast, mitogenesis and phagocytic activity of peritoneal macrophages were increased significantly in the DEN/AAF-treated rats supplemented with Vit E; and the vitamin effect was dose dependent. However, the increases were not so great as those observed in the controls. The highest doses of α-T and γ-T3 used effected the highest phagocytic activity, with α-T generally showing a higher activity than γ-T3. Although long-term Vit E supplementation at half the optimum dose significantly increased mitogenesis, phagocytic activity in the DEN/AAF-treated and control rats was only marginally increased.