Effect of α-tocopherol and sesame lignans on tocotrienol metabolism in rats and mice

众所周知，α-生育酚具有最高的维生素E活性，因为它与肝脏中的α- ttp具有最高的亲和力。结果表明，α-生育酚对大鼠α-生育三烯醇代谢有促进作用，但对γ-生育三烯醇代谢无促进作用。我们观察到芝麻及其木脂素在动物体内产生较高浓度的维生素E（生育酚和生育三烯醇）。我们可以证明，饲喂芝麻的大鼠体内维生素E浓度高的主要原因是芝麻木脂素抑制了维生素E向CEHC的降解。我们还发现，生育三烯醇在动物体内的分布与生育酚不同，生育三烯醇专门存在于皮肤和脂肪组织中。饮食中积累在皮肤中的生育三烯醇可以防止UVB辐射引起的氧化损伤，是一种比α-生育酚更强大的抗氧化剂。芝麻及其木脂素诱导皮肤和脂肪组织中生育三烯醇浓度升高，并与生育三烯醇共同作用，防止UVB照射引起的氧化损伤。

It is well known that α -tocopherol has the highest vitamin E activity because it has the highest affinity with α-TTP in the liver. We found that α-tocopherol enhances the α-tocotrienol metabolism but not the γ-tocotrienol metabolism in rats. We observed that sesame seed and its lignans produced higher concentrations of vitamin E (tocopherols and tocotrienols) in the animal body. We could prove that the primary cause of high vitamin E concentrations in rats fed sesame seed is that sesame lignans inhibit the degradation of vitamin E to CEHC. We also found that tocotrienol distribution in the animal body is different from that of tocopherol, and that tocotrienol is present specifically in the skin and adipose tissues. Dietary tocotrienol accumulated in the skin prevents oxidative damage induced by UVB irradiation and is a more powerful antioxidant than α-tocopherol. Sesame seed and its lignans induce higher tocotrienol concentrations in the skin and adipose tissues, and act together with tocotrienol to prevent oxidative damage induced by UVB irradiation.