Effect of an oral dose of vitamin E on the vitamin E and cholesterol content of tissues of the vitamin E-deficient rat.

Weanling rats (female Sprague-Dawley) were fed until maturity a vitamin E-deficient diet or the deficient diet supplemented with 66 IU RRR-alpha-tocopheryl acetate/kg. Vitamin E, vitamin E quinone and total cholesterol levels in plasma, liver, paraovarian adipose tissue, lung, ovary and adrenal tissue were measured by high performance liquid chromatography. Vitamin E levels were greatly diminished, but cholesterol levels were unchanged in all tissues except adipose tissue of animals fed the deficient diet. Vitamin E-deficient animals received a single oral dose of 2 or 16.7 mg of RRR-alpha-tocopherol, and tissues were examined at 12 and 48 h. Plasma and liver formed a vitamin E pool that peaked at 12 h, had a high vitamin E/cholesterol ratio at 12 h and contained only trace amounts of vitamin E quinone. Adipose tissue, lung, ovary and adrenal concentrated vitamin E throughout the 48-h period, had low vitamin E/cholesterol ratios and contained small but significant amounts of vitamin E quinone. Vitamin E levels (micrograms/gram) at 48 h in lung, ovary and adrenal were higher than the vitamin E level in liver but the liver contained much more vitamin E (micrograms/organ) than the other tissues combined. Cholesterol levels (micrograms/gram) in plasma and liver decreased 45 to 55% in a dose- and time-dependent manner when a single oral dose of vitamin E was administered to deficient animals. Cholesterol levels in adipose tissue, lung and ovary were unchanged while the cholesterol level in adrenal increased 122% in a time-dependent manner with a single oral dose of vitamin E. These data show that a single oral dose of vitamin E has a profound effect on cholesterol levels in short-time experiments with the vitamin E-deficient rat. This rat model is appropriate for studies on the relationship between vitamin E and cholesterol metabolism in plasma, liver and the adrenal.