2008, Volume 1, Issue 4, pp 376 – 382

So many options but one choice: the human body prefers α-tocopherol. A matter of stereochemistry.

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Authors and Affiliations

Correspondence to: Bogdan Manolescu, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, UMF “Carol Davila”, 8, Eroii Sanitari Street, Bucharest. E-mail: manolescub@yahoo.fr

Abstract

α-Tocopherol belongs to the group of vitamin E vitamers. Recent years findings indicate that α-tocopherol is more than just a simple fat-soluble anti-oxidant as it was found that it can also regulate gene expression. From all vitamin E vitamers human body preferentially retains α-tocopherol, but the reasons for this preference are still elusive. Different studies indicated that human body, through the action of two hepatic proteins, α-tocopherol transfer protein (α-TTP) and cytochrome P450 4F2 (CYP4F2), is able to make subtle structural differences between different vitamin E forms. This is an example of stereochemistry used as a discrimination factor between molecules with different biological activities.

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About this article

PMC ID: 5654212
PubMed ID: 20108516
DOI: 

Article Publishing Date (print): 15-11-2008
Available Online: 

Journal information

ISSN Printing: 1844-122X
ISSN Online: 1844-3117
Journal Title: Journal of Medicine and Life

Copyright License: Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.


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