Mechanism of enhancing vitamin E activity by sesame seed or its lignans

通过三个实验研究了芝麻籽或其木脂素增强维生素E活性的机制。在实验1中，我们检测了饲喂对照饲料或含有20%芝麻籽的饲料的大鼠肝脏中α-生育酚转移蛋白(α-TTP)的浓度。使用Arai博士(DEP.)捐赠的免疫抗体，用免疫抗体方法评估药物浓度。东京大学药理学教授)。在实验2中，我们观察了芝麻木脂素(芝麻素和芝麻酚)对0.5%DHA喂养大鼠产生的过氧化脂质的抑制作用。在喂食DHA的大鼠中，血浆、肝脏和脑中的过氧化脂质水平显著增加，而血浆和肝脏中的α-生育酚水平下降，但脑中没有。芝麻素和芝麻酚的添加显著抑制了过氧化脂质的产生，并提高了血浆、肝脏和大脑中的α-生育酚水平。这些作用与芝麻素或芝麻酚几乎相同。在实验3中，比较了喂食只含有g-生育酚的芝麻籽的大鼠和喂食伽马-生育酚的大鼠大脑中的伽马-生育酚浓度。饲喂芝麻籽组大鼠脑内γ-生育酚含量较高，而饲喂γ-生育酚组小鼠脑内γ-生育酚含量极低。此外，饲喂α-生育酚芝麻的大鼠脑内α-生育酚浓度高于不喂芝麻的对照组。

Mechanisms enhancing vitamin E activity by sesame seed or its lignans were investigated in three experiments.In experiment 1 we examined the concentration of the liver alpha-tocopherol transfer protein (alphaTTP) in the liver of rats fed a control diet or a 20% sesame seed containing diet. The concentration was evaluated by the immuno-antibody method using immuno-antibodies kindly donated by Dr. Arai (Dept. of Pharmacology, Tokyo University). The results showed no difference in the concentrations of alphaTTP between control rats and sesame seed fed rats.In experiment 2 we investigated the suppressing effect of sesame lignans (sesamin and sesaminol) on lipid peroxides produced by 0.5 % DHA feeding in rats. In rats fed DHA, lipid peroxide levels significantly increased in the plasma, liver and brain, and alpha-tocopherol levels decreased in the plasma and liver but not the brain. The addition of sesamin and sesaminol significantly inhibited production of lipidperoxide and raised alpha-tocopherol levels in the plasma, liver and brain. These effects were nearly the same with either sesamin or sesaminol.In experiment 3, gamma-tocopherol concentration in the brain of rats fed sesame seed, which contains only g-tocopherol, was compared to that of rats fed gamma-tocopherol. A high gamma-tocopherol concentration was found in tha sesame seed fed group, but negligible amounts of gamma-tocopherol in brain were found in the gamma-tocopherol-fed group. Further, the concentration of alpha-tocopherol in the brain of rats fed sesame seed with alpha-tocopherol was higher than that of control group without sesame seed.