Vitamin E

a fat-soluble compound found principally in certain plant oils and the leaves of green vegetables. Wheat-germ oil is a particularly rich source of the vitamin. Vitamin E, first recognized in 1922, was first obtained in a pure form in 1936; it was identified chemically in 1938. A number of similar compounds having vitamin E activity and classified as tocopherols or tocotrienols have been isolated.

Vitamin E acts as an antioxidant (i.e., an inhibitor of oxidation processes) in body tissues. It protects unsaturated fats in the body from oxidation by peroxides and other free radicals. The possibility that vitamin E may help prolong an active life span by slowing the rate of oxidative destruction of biological membranes is under study.

The vitamin is used commercially as an antioxidant to retard the rancidification of fats, especially vegetable oils. (&See; table of the vitamins.)

Humans with a deficiency of vitamin E display, among other symptoms, a mild anemia. Persons with a chronic deficiency exhibit prolonged malabsorption of fats, as well as mild anemia, unsteadiness (ataxia), and pigmentary changes in the retina. These symptoms respond to prolonged vitamin E treatment. In experimental animals, the characteristic signs of induced vitamin E deficiency vary with the species. Mature female rats with a deficiency of vitamin E fail to produce healthy young. The vitamin deficiency in rabbits and guinea pigs is characterized mainly by muscle wasting.