American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 28, 1087-1094, Copyright © 1975 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc

ORIGINAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS

Effects of different vitamin E-deficient basal diets on hepatic catalase and microsomal cytochromes P-450 and b5 in rats

JW Hauswirth and PP Nair

Male Sprague-Dawley rats maintained for a period of 6 or 12 weeks on a basal vitamin E-dificient diet consisting of 70% sucrose, 20% vitamin- free casein, 4% tocopherol stripped lard, 4% salt mixture, and 2% tocopherol-free vitamin fortification mixture were used to compare two sets of commonly used salt mixtures (salt mixtures USP XIV versus Briggs' salt mixture) and two sets of vitamin fortification mixtures (NBC vitamin fortification mixture versus that of Weglicki). Among the rats maintained on the deficient diets for 6 weeks, only those that received the combination of salt mixture USP XIV and vitamin fortification mixture of Weglicki showed a significantly lower level of hepatic catalase activity compared to the corresponding control animals. While there were no significant changes in microsomal cytochromes at this time period, after 12 weeks on the deficient diet, a significant depression in these cytochromes was noted in all experimental groups except the one on salt mixture USP XIV and NBC vitamin fortification mixture. A similar decrease in hepatic catalase was observed in deficient animals at 12 weeks. Since the most striking differences in these diets are in their content of iron and menaquinone, it appears that these two dietary constituents may interact in modulating the effect of vitamin E on hepatic hemeproteins.

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