Studies on Oral Administration of α-Tocopherol in Mouse and Its Antioxidative Effect on Lipid Peroxidation of Liver Homogenate

Vitamin E has long been regarded as an antioxidant preventing lipid peroxidation in biological membranes. The α-tocopherol content in the heart, lung, and spleen was higher than in the liver, kidney, testes, and brain. The α-tocopherol in these tissues of mouse administrated α-tocopherol orally increased about 1.2 to 4.1-fold by weight except for the brain. The α-tocopherol content in brain did not changed. The lipid peroxidation induced by Fe2+-ascorbic acid, cumene hydroperoxide, or t-butyl hydroperoxide was inhibited more in the liver homogenate obtained from α-tocopherol-treated mouse, than in the liver homogenate from the control mouse. This suggests that the oral administration of α-tocopherol enhances the content of α-tocopherol in various tissues of mouse and supplementary α-tocopherol effectively prevents lipid peroxidation of the tissues in biological systems.