Preface

Oxidative Stress (OS) constitutes an alteration produced by a disequilibrium between the generation of free radicals and the oxidative system, which can contribute to a state of dam‐ age, in particular in terms of biomolecules. Similarly, there are natural and synthesized mol‐ ecules that are capable of inactivating free radicals. These free-radical trappers are classified in groups or families of compounds that are in general called "antioxidants". The main ob‐ jective of the mechanisms of defense is that of transforming the free radicals into less harm‐ ful products or to neutralize their malignancy totally.

Diet and nutrition are very important in the promotion and maintenance of health through‐ out the entire human lifetime. There has been an attempt to seek, in foods, all of the proper‐ ties that are of benefit at the time of increasing or maintaining our state of health. There are elements in the diet that, in addition to their nutritional characteristics, are antioxidant agents. Among the most studied of these we find vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin D, vitamin A, some amino acids, the flavonoids and certain oligoelements. All of these antioxidant ele‐ ments represent an alternative for the treatment and prevention of Chronic Degenerative Diseases (CDD), which represents a very high morbimortality rate worldwide.

Vitamin E was discovered in the 1920s by Evans and Bishop. Later, it was discovered that vitamin E possesses a lipidic antioxidant effect *in vivo*, in that it blocks the oxidation chain reaction of the lipids that form part of the phospholipids of the cellular membranes. In the present book, *Vitamin E in Health and Disease*, the chapter by Dr Lisa Schmölz et al., The Hep‐ atic Fate of Vitamin E, includes the hepatic metabolism of vitamin E, its storage, release, dis‐ tribution, and its effects on the metabolism in great detail, as well as its effect on the prevention of diseases, in addition to its role in anti-aging. The chapter by Dr Rusu Anca Elena reports on the effect of vitamin E in patients with hemodialysis, finding a favorable effect of vitamin E in these patients. In a similar manner, the chapter of Drs Rayan Ahmed and Paul W. Sylvester describes g-Tocotrienol, a natural isoform within the vitamin E family of compounds, which displays potent antiproliferative, apoptotic and reversal of epithelialto-mesenchymal-transition activity against breast cancer, employing treatment doses that have little or no effect on normal cell viability. The chapter by Milka Mileva and Angel S. Galabov describes how vitamin E could be recommended as a reliable agent, indeed as a component in multiorgan flu therapy. Last, Dr Juan José Godina-Nava et al. describe the cytoprotector effect of the 120-Hz electromagnetic fields in early hepatocarcinogene sis.

My congratulations to each of the authors for their chapters in *Vitamin E in Health and Dis‐ ease* and for their commitment in developing this book.

> **Dr. José Antonio Morales-González** Escuela Superior de Medicina Instituto Politécnico Nacional Investigador Nacional nivel 2 Medalla Alfonso Caso, al mérito académico, UNAM Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico

**Chapter 1**

**Provisional chapter**

**The Hepatic Fate of Vitamin E**

**The Hepatic Fate of Vitamin E**

Lisa Schmölz, Martin Schubert, Stefan Kluge,

Lisa Schmölz, Martin Schubert, Stefan Kluge,

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.79445

**Abstract**

**1. Introduction**

Marc Birringer, Maria Wallert and Stefan Lorkowski

role of the liver in vitamin E homeostasis, are described.

**Keywords:** vitamin E, liver, hepatic handling, vitamin E homeostasis, AVED

Marc Birringer, Maria Wallert and Stefan Lorkowski

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.79445

Vitamin E is a lipophilic vitamin and thus is naturally occurring mainly in high-fat plant products such as oils, nuts, germs, seeds, and in lower amounts in vegetables and some fruits. The term "vitamin E" comprises different structures that are classified as tocopherols, tocotrienols, and "vitamin E-related structures." Vitamin E follows the same route in the body like other lipophilic substances. In brief, vitamin E is absorbed in the intestine, packaged into chylomicrons together with other lipophilic molecules, and distributed via lymph and blood in the body. As the liver is the central organ in lipoprotein metabolism, it is also essential for the uptake, distribution, metabolism, and storage of vitamin E. Based on the current knowledge on that field, the physiological, nonphysiological, and pathophysiological factors influencing the hepatic handling of vitamin E, verifying the crucial

> © 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution,

© 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use,

distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Vitamin E is a lipophilic vitamin and thus naturally mainly occurring in high-fat plant products such as oils, nuts, germs, seeds, and in lower amounts in vegetables and some fruits. The term "vitamin E" comprises different structures that are classified as tocopherols (TOH), tocotrienols (T3), and "vitamin E-related structures". However, α-TOH is considered as the most important representative of vitamin E in humans as the central vitamin E metabolizing organ, the liver, discriminates for this form [1]. Notwithstanding the classification as vitamin, the way vitamin E exactly contributes to human health is controversially discussed. Vitamin

**Chapter 1 Provisional chapter**

#### **The Hepatic Fate of Vitamin E The Hepatic Fate of Vitamin E**

Lisa Schmölz, Martin Schubert, Stefan Kluge, Marc Birringer, Maria Wallert and Stefan Lorkowski Lisa Schmölz, Martin Schubert, Stefan Kluge, Marc Birringer, Maria Wallert and Stefan Lorkowski

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.79445

#### **Abstract**

Vitamin E is a lipophilic vitamin and thus is naturally occurring mainly in high-fat plant products such as oils, nuts, germs, seeds, and in lower amounts in vegetables and some fruits. The term "vitamin E" comprises different structures that are classified as tocopherols, tocotrienols, and "vitamin E-related structures." Vitamin E follows the same route in the body like other lipophilic substances. In brief, vitamin E is absorbed in the intestine, packaged into chylomicrons together with other lipophilic molecules, and distributed via lymph and blood in the body. As the liver is the central organ in lipoprotein metabolism, it is also essential for the uptake, distribution, metabolism, and storage of vitamin E. Based on the current knowledge on that field, the physiological, nonphysiological, and pathophysiological factors influencing the hepatic handling of vitamin E, verifying the crucial role of the liver in vitamin E homeostasis, are described.

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.79445

**Keywords:** vitamin E, liver, hepatic handling, vitamin E homeostasis, AVED
