Cytokine response to vitamin E supplementation is dependent on pre-supplementation cytokine levels

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Belisle, Sarah E. | Leka, Lynette S. | Dallal, Gerard E. | Jacques, Paul F. | Delgado-Lista, Javier | Ordovas, Jose M. | Meydani, Simin Nikbin^;

Affiliations: Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA | Lipids and Atherosclerosis Research Unit, Reina Sofía University Hospital and CIBER Fisiopatologia de la Obesidad y Nutricion (CIBEROBN), Córdoba, Spain | Department of Pathology, Sackler Graduate School of Biochemical Sciences, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA

Note: [] Address for correspondence: Simin Nikbin Meydani, DVM, PhD, Nutritional Immunology Laboratory, Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, 711 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02111, USA. Tel.: +1 617 556 3129; Fax: +1 617 556 3278; E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: Vitamin E supplementation has been suggested to improve immune response in the aged in part by altering cytokine production. However, there is not a consensus regarding the effect of supplemental vitamin E on cytokine production in humans. There is evidence that baseline immune health can affect immune response to supplemental vitamin E in the elderly. Thus, the effect of vitamin E on cytokines may depend on their pre-supplementation cytokine response. Using data from a vitamin E intervention in elderly nursing home residents, we examined if the effect of vitamin E on ex vivo cytokine production of IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, and IFN-γ depended on baseline cytokine production. We observed that the effect of vitamin E supplementation on cytokine production depended on pre-supplementation production of the respective cytokines. The interactions between vitamin E and baseline cytokine production were not explained by covariates known to impact cytokine production. Our results offer evidence that baseline cytokine production should be considered in studies that examine the effect of supplemental vitamin E on immune and inflammatory responses. Our results could have implications in designing clinical trials to determine the impact of vitamin E on conditions in which cytokines are implicated such as infections and atherosclerotic disease.

Keywords: Vitamin E, elderly, cytokine production

Journal: BioFactors, vol. 33, no. 3, pp. 191-200, 2008