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The Role of Vitamin E in Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease

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Vitamin E in Human Health

Part of the book series: Nutrition and Health ((NH))

Abstract

Rising life expectancy is leading to an increasing number of patients with age-related diseases, including neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD). One of the hallmarks of AD are elevated markers of oxidative damage, as increased concentrations of oxidized nucleic acids, proteins, and lipids have been found in AD brains. Vitamin E is an essential antioxidant micronutrient and plays an important role in protecting cells from oxidative damage, such as the harmful effects of free radicals observed in brain aging and AD. Animal studies showed sufficient evidence to consider a treatment with vitamin E for patients suffering from AD. However, the results of clinical studies on AD patients are conflicting. To date, there is no convincing evidence from meta-analyses on randomized, placebo-controlled trials that vitamin E alone or in combination with other antioxidants prevents the progression or improves cognitive function in people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or AD. Additional research is needed to explore the effects of vitamin E treatment on other clinically relevant outcomes, such as quality of life. Furthermore, and in addition to the practical challenges when conducting randomized trials among older people with AD, key issues that need to be carefully considered for further vitamin E therapy trials include dosing, timing, mono- or multimodal therapy, and selection of different vitamers including γ-tocopherol and tocotrienols.

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Abbreviations

ADAS-cog :

Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale-cognitive subscale

BPT:

Brief Praxis Test

BSD:

Blessed dementia scale

CDR:

Clinical dementia rating

CDT:

Clock drawing test

CERAD :

Consortium to Establish a Registry in Alzheimer’s Disease

Clox-1:

Spontaneous clock drawing task

CS:

Cohort study

DMR SOC:

The Dementia Questionnaire for Mentally Retarded Persons Sum of Cognitive Scores

DRS:

Dementia Rating Scale

DS:

Down syndrome

DSM-IV:

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV diagnosis

GSSG:

Oxidized glutathione (glutathione disulfide)

LS :

Longitudinal study

MCI:

Mild cognitive impairment

MIS:

Memory Impairment Screen

MMSE:

Mini-Mental State Examination

nc:

Not calculated

n.s. :

Not specified

OLS:

Open-label study

RCT:

Randomized clinical trial

SIB:

Severe Impairment Battery

TICS-m:

Modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status

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  1. Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Institute of Nutritional Sciences, Giessen, Germany

    Gunter P. Eckert

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  1. University of Hohenheim, Institute of Nutritional Sciences, Stuttgart , Germany

    Peter Weber

  2. University of Applied Sciences Fulda, Nutritional, Food and Consumer Sciences, Fulda, Germany

    Marc Birringer

  3. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA

    Jeffrey B. Blumberg

  4. University Medical Center Groningen, Hanzeplain 1, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Manfred Eggersdorfer

  5. University of Hohenheim, Institute of Nutritional Sciences, Stuttgart , Germany

    Jan Frank

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Eckert, G.P. (2019). The Role of Vitamin E in Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease. In: Weber, P., Birringer, M., Blumberg, J., Eggersdorfer, M., Frank, J. (eds) Vitamin E in Human Health. Nutrition and Health. Humana Press, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05315-4_24

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