Vitamin E and iron status in hemodialysis patients

• Main Author: Lee, Chia-Lin
• Other Authors: Traber, Maret G.
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: Hemodialysis > Patients > Nutrition; Vitamin E > Therapeutic use; Dietary supplements > Physiological effect
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1957/27225

The present study investigated whether vitamin E supplementation reduced oxidative stress in erythrocytes and improved vitamin E status in patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD). Plasma and erythrocyte α-tocopherol, plasma ascorbic acid, and iron status were determined in 11 regular HD patients prior to and post-dialysis, before and during oral supplementation of vitamin E, 400 IU daily for two months. HD patients were categorized into two groups according to their plasma ascorbic acid levels. We found that only the vitamin C sufficient group (>40 μM, Group I) had reliable measurements of erythrocyte α-tocopherol concentrations before vitamin E supplementation. In Group I prior to dialysis, erythrocyte α-tocopherol concentrations increased in response to vitamin E supplementation from 6.7 ± 0.7 μmol/L packed cells to 9.8 ± 0.6 (μmol/L packed cells (p<0.04). Moreover, there was a positive correlation (p<O.001) between plasma and erythrocyte α-tocopherol levels in Group I subjects. Additionally, vitamin E supplementation significantly increased hematocrits (39.9% ± 1.9% to 42.3% ±1.6%, p<0.004) post-dialysis only in Group I subjects. On the contrary, there was no change in hematocrits during vitamin E supplementation in the vitamin C deficient group (<40 μM, Group II). With respect to measures of iron status and recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) dose, no differences between before and during vitamin E supplementation were observed in two groups ofpatients. In summary, our data suggest that oral vitamin E supplementation protected erythrocytes from oxidative stress and improved vitamin E status in HD patients, but only in patients with adequate vitamin C status. === Graduation date: 2003