Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the western world with its incidence increasing lately in developing countries. Several lines of evidence support a role for inflammation in atherogenesis. Hence, dietary micronutrients having anti-inflammatory properties may have a potential beneficial effect with regard to CVD. Vitamin E is a potent antioxidant with anti-inflammatory properties. It comprises eight diferent isoforms: four tocopherols (T) (α, β, γ, and δ) and four tocotrienols (T3) (α, β, γ, and δ). A wealth of data is available for the preventive efficacy of alpha-T. alpha-T supplementation in human subjects and animal models has been shown to be antioxidant and antiinflammatory in terms of decreasing C-reactive protein (CRP) and release of proinflammatory cytokines, the chemokine IL-8 and PAI-1 levels especially at high doses. Gamma-T is effective in decreasing reactive nitrogen species and also appears to have antiinflammatory properties; however, there are scanty data examining pure gamma-T preparations. Furthermore, tocotrienols (α and γ) also have implications for prevention of CVD; however, there are conflicting and insuffcient data in the literature with regards to their potency. In this chapter, we have gathered recent emerging data on alpha T specifically and also have given a composite view of gamma-T and tocotrienols especially with regards to their effect on inflammation as it relates to CVD.
