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Review
. 2023 Mar 15:14:1145216.
doi: 10.3389/fphys.2023.1145216. eCollection 2023.

Beneficial and adverse effects of vitamin E on the kidney

Aldona Baltusnikiene  1 , Inga Staneviciene  1 , Eugène Jansen  2
Affiliations
Review

Beneficial and adverse effects of vitamin E on the kidney

Aldona Baltusnikiene et al. Front Physiol. .

Abstract

This article reviews the beneficial and adverse effects of high-dose vitamin E supplementation on the vitamin E status and renal function in human and rodent studies. The high doses of vitamin E, which can cause renal effects, were compared to upper limits of toxicity (UL) as established by various authorities worldwide. In recent mice studies with higher doses of vitamin E, several biomarkers of tissue toxicity and inflammation were found to be significantly elevated. In these biomarker studies, the severity of inflammation and the increased levels of the biomarkers are discussed together with the need to re-evaluate ULs, given the toxic effects of vitamin E on the kidney and emphasizing oxidative stress and inflammation. The controversy in the literature about vitamin E effects on the kidney is mainly caused by the dose-effects relations that do not give a clear view, neither in human nor animals studies. In addition, more recent studies on rodents with new biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammation give new insights into possible mechanisms. In this review, the controversy is shown and an advice given on the vitamin E supplementation for renal health.

Keywords: biomarkers; kidney; oxidative stress; supplementation; upper limit of toxicity; vitamin E.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Chemical structures of the four tocopherols.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
A schematic representation of the metabolic fate of vitamin E.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
A detailed scheme with chemical structures of α-tocopherol metabolites in various cellular departments. Explanation of the chemical structures: α-13′-OH, 13′-hydroxychromanol; α-13′-COOH, 13′-carboxychromanol; α-CEHC, carboxymethyl butyl hydroxy chromanol; α-CMBHC, carboxymethyl hexyl hydroxy chromanol.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Content of the four homologues of vitamin E in oils. (From: NCBI, NBK225461).
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Renal supernatant concentrations in male mice of MCP-1, IL-6, TNF-α, resistin (expressed in pg/mL) and PAI-1 (expressed in μg/mL). Statistics: *p < 0.05 vs. control group; ***p < 0.001 vs. control group. Reprinted from Jansen et al. (2018).
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 6
Effects of vitamin E supplementation using low doses (upper part) and high doses (lower part).
FIGURE 7
FIGURE 7
Schematic representation of the detoxification of oxygen radical originated from long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in the lipid phase to water-soluble harmless compounds such as NAD(P)H. LOOH, long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid; LOO, radical of LOOH; GSH, glutathione; GSSG, oxidized glutathione; NAD(P)H, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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