Abstract
Serum levels of α-tocopherol (α-Toc), lipoperoxide (TBARS), total cholesterol (TC) and free fatty acid (FFA) were studied before and after the administration of vitamin E (dl-α-tocopheryl acetate) for 4 weeks (400 mg/day im for the first week, thereafter 600 mg/day po) in the acute stage of stroke.
Serum α-Toc was significantly lower, but TBARS was higher than that of the control in the first day of outbreak. Vitamin E administration elevated the serum α-Toc level in a few days, but did not affect the TC level. On the otherhand, the serum TBARS level remained at a plateau for 4 weeks. These results led us to conclude that vitamin E must inhibit the elevation of TBARS, which otherwise was observed in most cases of stroke in the first week. There were three stroke patients whose serum α-Toc happened to have been measured 2 or 4 months prior to attack, and two of them had low levels of α-Toc (less than 0.5 mg/dl) at that time. Soon after stroke developed, serum α-Toc was lower in the three patients. These findings suggest that a low level of serum α-Toc could be one of the risk factors of stroke.
