Iron, alpha-tocopherol, oxidative damage and micronucleus formation in rat splenocytes

The influence of low and high alpha-tocopherol diets in concert with a high polyunsaturated fat content and a modest increase in dietary iron has been studied. Iron supplementation at 5 times the recommended dietary level was not associated with any increased sensitivity of splenocytes to any of several oxidative challenges ex vivo. Despite the significantly higher alpha-tocopherol concentrations in plasma and liver in animals supplemented with this vitamin, there was no apparent protection against oxidative genotoxicity as judged by the formation of micronuclei in splenocytes subjected to oxidative stress ex vivo. These results add to the accumulating evidence that vitamin E supplementation has little effect against oxidative genomic damage, at least as demonstrated by an increase in micronucleus frequency.