CORRESPONDENCE: LETTER TO THE EDITOR
The Anti-Inflammatory Properties of Safflower Oil and Coconut Oil May be Mediated by Their Respective Concentrations of Vitamin E
Christopher Masterjohn*
* P.O. Box 208, West Brookfield, Massachusetts 01585 (Email: ChrisMasterjohn{at}gmail.com).
Nicholls et al. (1) found an increased expression of adhesion molecules intracellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1 and vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1 in human umbilical vein endothelial cells incubated with high-density lipoprotein taken from subjects eating a meal rich in coconut oil and a decreased expression of these molecules in cells incubated with high-density lipoprotein taken from subjects eating a meal rich in safflower oil (1). The authors attributed this effect to the fatty acid composition of the oils; since the oils used were unrefined, however (D. Celermajer and J. Harmer, personal communication, August 2006), a possible role for constituents other than fatty acids must be considered.
Compared to coconut oil per unit mass, safflower oil contains 77 times the alpha-tocopherol, more than 100 times the gamma-tocopherol, and 73 times the total tocopherol (2).
Vitamin E down-regulates the expression of ICAM-1 (3). Fan et al. (4) found that the incubation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells with alpha-tocopherol, gamma-tocopherol, or mixed tocopherols inhibited the induction of ICAM-1 expression by oxidized low-density lipoprotein in a dose-dependent manner, although it did not inhibit the induction of ICAM-1 expression by recombinant human C-reactive protein (4). Vitamin E suppressed ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 levels in a rabbit model of hypercholesterolemia (5) and in a rat model of heart transplantation (6). The effect on VCAM-1, however, was statistically significant only in the rat model and not in the rabbit model.
The respective vitamin E concentrations of the oils may therefore have contributed to their observed differential effects on ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 expression. Future research should investigate the relative contribution of fatty acid composition and micronutrient composition to this effect.
 |
References
|
|---|
- Nicholls SJ, Lundman P, Harmer JA, et al. Consumption of saturated fat impairs the anti-inflammatory properties of high-density lipoproteins and endothelial function J Am Coll Cardiol 2006;48:715-720.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
- Enig MG. Know Your Fats: The Complete Primer for Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils, and Cholesterol. Silver Spring, MD: Bethesda Press; 2000.
- Azzi A, Gysin R, Kempna P, et al. Vitamin E mediates cell signaling and regulation of gene expression Ann N Y Acad Sci 2004;1031:86-95.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
- Fan Y, Liu ML, Qi YY, Ren ZW. Effect of different isoforms of tocopherols on expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 in human umbilical vein endothelial cells Beijing Da Xue Xue Bao 2004;36:70-74.[Medline]
- Koga T, Kwan P, Zubik L, Ameho C, Smith D, Meydani M. Vitamin E supplementation suppresses macrophage accumulation and endothelial cell expression of adhesion molecules in the aorta of hypercholesterolemic rabbits Atherosclerosis 2004;176:265-272.[CrossRef][ISI][Medline]
- Schulte I, Bektas H, Klempnauer J, Borlak J. Vitamin E in heart transplantation: effects on cardiac gene expression Transplantation 2006;81:736-745.[CrossRef][ISI][Medline]
Top
References