Gammma Tocopherol is an important dietary antiinflammatory agent.

心血管疾病是发达国家的主要死亡来源。在澳大利亚，它造成的死亡人数超过了癌症，并与相当大的经济成本相关。现在不鼓励使用抗氧化剂维生素补充剂来降低心脏病风险，因为几项关于维生素E(含有一种名为α-生育酚的维生素E)的大型研究表明没有任何好处。然而，在使用纯α-生育酚的干预研究和显示饮食衍生抗氧化剂有益的人群研究之间仍然存在重大差异。我们相信，该项目将有助于澄清这一差异，并提供数据，为富含另一种形式的维生素E-生育酚的功能性食品提供证据。γ-生育酚在一些食物中很常见，与α-生育酚相比，它可能具有不同的性质。我们已经证实，补充6周的γ-生育酚会导致血液和组织中γ-生育酚水平的显著增加。膳食中的γ-生育酚具有潜在的抗炎活性。该项目将研究γ-生育酚如何作为一种抗炎剂发挥作用，从而帮助预防心脏病。该项目将阐明饮食中的γ-生育酚在心血管疾病中的潜在作用，并加强推荐使用混合饮食中的“抗氧化剂”来替代纯补充剂，如α-生育酚。

Cardiovascular disease is the major source of death in developed countries. In Australia it accounts for more deaths than cancer and is associated with considerable economic cost. The use of antioxidant vitamin supplements for reduction of heart disease risk is now discouraged because several large studies with vitamin E (containing one form of vitamin E called alpha-tocopherol) have shown no benefit. However, there remains a major discrepancy between intervention studies using pure alpha-tocopherol and population studies showing a benefit of diet derived antioxidants. We believe that this project will help clarify this discrepancy and provide data which may provide evidence for functional foods enriched with another form of vitamin E called gamma-tocopherol. Gamma-tocopherol is common in some foods and it may have different properties compared to alpha-tocopherol. We have already established that supplementation for six weeks with gamma-tocopherol leads to a marked increase in blood and tissue levels of gamma-tocopherol. Dietary gamma-tocopherol has potential antiinflammatory activity. This project will study how gamma-tocopherol may work as an antiinflammatory agent which could help to protect against heart disease. The project will clarify the potential role of dietary gamma-tocopherol in cardiovascular disease and strengthen the recommendation for mixed dietary 'antioxidants' in place of pure supplements such as alpha-tocopherol.