Assessment of vitamin E nutritional status in sheep

The effects of supplemental dietary vitamin E (as DL-alpha-tocopheryl acetate; 0, 15, 30, and 60 IU/d) on serum, platelet, and muscle tocopherol and lipid (cholesterol and triglycerides) concentrations in 32 sheep were investigated in a 60-d trial. Serum, platelet, and muscle alpha-tocopherol concentrations increased linearly (P < .05) with treatment. Platelet tocopherol concentrations were more sensitive to vitamin E intake than either serum or muscle tocopherol. There were no effects on serum lipid concentrations. There were low correlations (P > .05) between serum or platelet tocopherol and either cholesterol or triglycerides or the sum of the two lipid fractions. Correlations between serum or platelet tocopherol and muscle tocopherol were also low (P > .05). Although platelet tocopherol was more sensitive to vitamin E intake than serum tocopherol, serum tocopherol concentrations can be reliably used to estimate vitamin E status. Expressing serum tocopherol relative to blood lipids did not improve the relationship between serum tocopherol and vitamin E intake.