Palm oil is the most widely consumed vegetable oil on the planet! About 2.3 billion people around the world currently depend on palm oil as an important part of their food supply. But here in the U.S., most of us are just learning to appreciate palm oil for its health, culinary and environmental benefits.
Antioxidants are everywhere. Energy drinks, skin treatments, vitamin supplements, and cold remedies, and all extol the virtues of their special combination of health giving ingredients. To better understand antioxidants we have to start with oxidation, the chemical process of one substance “stealing” an electron from another and changing, or destroying it. You don’t have to understand the chemistry to get the picture. Graphic examples are all around us. When iron is oxidized, it becomes rust. The same process is seen when a slice of potato or avocado is left in the open air. Oxidation changes the intrinsic nature of the substance.
This study was performed to evaluate the effect of pregabalin co-administration with vitamin E in Partial Sciatic Nerve Ligation (PSNL)-induced neuropathic pain in rats.
Male Wistar rats were randomly allocated as control, sham, and PSNL groups (n = 8). PSNL was induced by tight ligation of the sciatic nerve with a copper wire. On day 14th, the PSNL and sham operated rats received either pregabalin (1, 3, and 30 mg/kg), vitamin E (100 and 200 mg/kg), or their combination intraperitoneally. An antinociceptive effect was evaluated as latency times and Maximum possible Effect Percent (%MPE) using tail-flick test. Locomotor activity was evaluated by open-field test before PSNL surgery and then twice at the 14th days (before and after drug injection). Ligated nerves were removed on the 28th days after surgery for histological examinations.
The time course of latency times and %MPE showed significant decrease in PSNL but not in sham and control groups. Pregabalin (3 and 30 mg/kg) and vitamin E (100 and 200 mg/kg) caused significant increases in latency time in PSNL (but not sham) group compared to control group. Vitamin E 200 mg/kg increased significantly %MPE in PSNL group compared to sham group. In addition, the %MPE following combination treatment of pregabalin (30 mg/kg) and vitamin E (100 mg/kg) was significantly higher than both vitamin E and control group. Also combination of pregabalin with 100 mg/kg of vitamin E reversed Wallerian degeneration of sciatic nerve and the inflammatory responses to almost similar to sham group. Pregabalin and vitamin E did not affect locomotor activity.
Our results showed antinociceptive effects of both vitamin E and pregabalin alone or in combination in PSNL rats and also neuroprotective properties without affecting locomotor activity.
Although not well known in the United States, palm oil has been the oil of choice in many part of the world for centuries. Interest in this natural oil, as well as other exotic oils such as coconut and avocado, is rising, due in part to their health benefits. Reporter Laura Cassiday profiled red palm oil in the February 2017 edition of Inform Magazine. In the article, she shared red palm oil’s health benefits and reviewed how the minimally processed oil is produced. The Malaysian palm oil industry has developed and patented a low-temperature refining process that produces a high quality and nutrient-rich oil.
Purchase liquid vitamin E. Dab the liquid onto the dark spots on your face. If you don’t have liquid vitamin E, buy vitamin E capsules. Open the capsules and mix with little water until a thin liquid is formed. This remedy provides the skin with plenty antioxidants to help even your skin tone.
To explore the underlying mechanism and treatment of myocardial injury caused by hypothyroidism, we evaluated oxidative stress in serum and myocardial tissue of hypothyroid rats. The effect of levothyroxine (LT4) replacement therapy and vitamin E (VitE) supplementation on oxidative stress-induced injury and apoptosis of myocardial tissue is examined.
Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into five groups: normal control group, propylthiouracil group (PTU group), LT4 treatment group (PTU + LT4 group), vitamin E treatment group (PTU + VitE group), and combined treatment group (PTU + LT4 + VitE group). Superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and malondialdehyde (MDA) expression in serum and myocardium were determined. Myocardial apoptosis index (AI) in each group was determined by TUNEL assay.
SOD levels in serum were significantly increased in PTU + VitE and PTU + LT4 + Vit E groups, as compared to that in PTU and PTU + LT4 groups (P < 0.05). MDA levels in serum and myocardial tissue were significantly lower in PTU + LT4, PTU + VitE, and PTU + LT4 + VitE groups, as compared to that in the PTU group (P < 0.05). Myocardial apoptosis was significantly increased in PTU and PTU + VitE groups as compared to that in the normal control group (P < 0.05), while it was significantly lower in PTU + LT4 and PTU + LT4 + VitE groups, as compared to that in the PTU group (P < 0.05).
In this study, levothyroxine replacement therapy and vitamin E supplementation appeared to ameliorate myocardial apoptosis in hypothyroid rats, the mechanism of which appears to be related to improved thyroid function and reduced oxidative stress.
Severe Acute Liver Failure (ALF) is a life-threatening clinical syndrome characterized by hepatocyte necrosis, loss of hepatic architecture, and impairment of liver functions. One of the main causes of ALF is hepatotoxicity from chemical agents, which damage hepatocytes and result in increase of reactive oxygen species. The vitamin E isoform is the one with the strongest biological antioxidant activity.
To evaluate the antioxidant effect of vitamin E in this ALF model.
We used 56 rats (mean weight of 300 g) divided into eight groups, four groups assessed at 24 hours and 4 assessed at 48 hours after induction: control group (CO); Vitamin E (Vit. E); Thioacetamide (TAA) and Thioacetamide + Vitamina E (TAA+Vit.E). Rats were submitted to injections of thioacetamide (400 mg/kg i.p.) at baseline and 8 hours later. Vitamin E (100 mg/kg ip) was administered 30 minutes after the second dose of thioacetamide. The 48-hour group rats received two additional doses of vitamin E (24h and 36h). At 24h or 48 hours after the administration of the first dose of TAA, rats were weighed and anesthetized and their blood sampled for evaluation of liver integrity through enzymes aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT). Liver tissue was sampled for assessment of lipid peroxidation (LPO) by the technique TBARS, antioxidant enzymes SOD, CAT, GPx and GST activity, levels of the NO 2 /NO 3 and histology by H&E in two times. The results were expressed as mean ± standard deviation and statistically analyzed by ANOVA followed by Student-Newman-Keuls, with P <0.05 considered as significant.
These results suggest that vitamin E was able to protect the liver from lesions caused by thioacetamide.
The lungs cry for vitamin E. Researchers at Harvard University have found that those persons who have an ample amount of vitamin E in their diets are less likely to have attacks of asthma. It has been shown that vitamin E relaxes the smooth muscle surrounding the small tubes in the lungs, preventing them from collapsing. Vitamin E can be found in such foods as wheat germ, almonds, sunflower seeds, whole grain cereals, spinach and kale. If your diet is low in these foods, a supplement of vitamin E (200 IU to 400 IU) may help to prevent asthma.
PUTRAJAYA: As global palm oil consumption increases over the decades to 50 million tonnes a year, so has the intensity of smear campaigns against the industry. “The US$40 billion (RM177 billion) global palm oil trade makes up almost 60 per cent of the world’s vegetable oil market. But the bigger the palm oil industry, the easier it is for smear campaigns to target our planters,” Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong told NST Business in an interview, here.
Biofortified maize is not only a good vehicle for provitamin A carotenoids for vitamin A deficient populations in developing countries but also a source of vitamin E, tocochromanols and phenolic compounds, which have antioxidant properties. Using high-performance liquid chromatography and a total antioxidant performance assay, the present study analyzed the antioxidant variation and antioxidant activity of 36 provitamin A improved maize hybrids and one common yellow maize hybrid. The ranges of major carotenoids in provitamin A carotenoids biofortified maize were zeaxanthin [1.2-13.2 µg g-1 dry weight (DW)], β-cryptoxanthin (1.3-8.8 µg g-1 DW) and β-carotene (1.3-8.0 µg g-1 DW). The ranges of vitamin E compounds identified in provitamin A carotenoids biofortified maize were α-tocopherol (3.4-34.3 µg g-1 DW), γ-tocopherol (5.9-54.4 µg g-1 DW), α-tocotrienol (2.6-19.5 µg g-1 DW) and γ-tocotrienol (45.4 µg g-1 DW). The ranges of phenolic compounds were γ-oryzanol (0.0-0.8 mg g-1 DW), ferulic acid (0.4-3.6 mg g-1 DW) and p-coumaric acid (0.1-0.45 mg g-1 DW). There was significant correlation between α-tocopherol and cis isomers of β-carotene (P < 0.01). Tocotrienols were correlated with α-tocopherol and γ-oryzanol (P < 0.01). Conclusion, genotype was significant in determining the variation in β-cryptoxanthin, β-carotene, α-tocopherol and γ-tocopherol contents (P < 0.01). A genotype × environment interaction was observed for γ-tocopherol content (P < 0.01).