Influence of vitamin E on platelet survival

Vitamin E plays an important role in protecting fat tissue from peroxidation. Platelet survival was compared among vitamin E deficient, control and alpha-tocopheryl nicotinate supplemented rats. The mean tocopherol level in the sera of the rats fed vitamin E deficient diet for two months was 21.5% of control, and the lipoperoxide level in the sera of these animals had not significantly (p greater than 0.05) increased. Platelet aggregation was not accelerated significantly (p greater than 0.05) after exposure to a concentration of 10 microM of ADP used as an aggregating agent. The rate of platelet survival was determined by the 51Cr-labeling technique. The survival rates were all normal in vitamin E deficient, control and alpha-tocopheryl nicotinate supplemented rats, with no significant difference (p greater than 0.1) among the groups. These results suggest that depletion of vitamin E per se does not shorten the periods of platelet survival.