High-dose vitamin E supplementation has no effect on ethanol-induced pathological liver injury

The effect of α-tocopherol (α-T) supplementation on ethanol-induced liver damage was studied. The intragastric feeding rat model was used in this study. Both normal and α-T supplemented animals (3125 IU/kg body weight) were fed liquid diet and ethanol for 1 mo. In pair-fed animals, ethanol was isocalorically replaced by dextrose. The blood ethanol level in the ethanol- fed groups was between 150 to 350 mg/dl. Lipid peroxidation was assessed by measuring liver thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and conjugated dienes. Liver damage was assessed by light microscopy. Overall, chronic ethanol treatment resulted in increase in TBARS and conjugated dienes in both normal (60% and 35%, P < .01, respectively) and α-T-supplemented groups (50% and 47%, P < .01, respectively). In animals receiving either dextrose or ethanol and regular diet, there was a significant inverse correlation between liver α-T and TBARS (r = 0.88, P < 0.01) and conjugated dienes (r = -0.75, P < .05). In contrast, in the vitamin E-supplemented rats, a significant positive correlation was observed between liver α-T, TBARS (r = 0.78, P < .01) and conjugated dienes (r = 0.87, P < .01). Of major significance is that α-T supplementation had no effect on ethanol-induced pathological changes in the liver. In conclusion, these results show that in the intragastric feeding model, α-T supplementation had no protective effect on ethanol-induced liver damage.