Effect of dietary vitamin E on platelet tocopherol values and 12-lipoxygenase activity

This study was designed to evaluate the effects of different amounts of dietary vitamin E on platelet tocopherol levels and 12-lipoxygenase activity when exogenous arachidonic acid was used as substrate. Weanling male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed diets containing 0, 50, and 5000 ppm of D-alpha-tocopherol acetate for 4 months. Platelet tocopherol was increased with increasing concentrations of dietary vitamin E; however, the conversion of exogenously added arachidonate by platelet to 12-HETE (12-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid) and thromboxane B2 from these three dietary groups was essentially the same. This study provides direct evidence that platelet 12-lipoxygenase activity is independent of its vitamin E content when exogenously added arachidonate was used as substrate.