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Review
. 2018 Nov 1;10(11):1614.
doi: 10.3390/nu10111614.

The Role of Vitamin E in Immunity

Ga Young Lee  1   2 , Sung Nim Han  3   4
Affiliations
Review

The Role of Vitamin E in Immunity

Ga Young Lee et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Vitamin E is a fat-soluble antioxidant that can protect the polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in the membrane from oxidation, regulate the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS), and modulate signal transduction. Immunomodulatory effects of vitamin E have been observed in animal and human models under normal and disease conditions. With advances in understating of the development, function, and regulation of dendritic cells (DCs), macrophages, natural killer (NK) cells, T cells, and B cells, recent studies have focused on vitamin E's effects on specific immune cells. This review will summarize the immunological changes observed with vitamin E intervention in animals and humans, and then describe the cell-specific effects of vitamin E in order to understand the mechanisms of immunomodulation and implications of vitamin E for immunological diseases.

Keywords: T cells; dendritic cells; immunomodulation; infection; macrophages; vitamin E.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author declares no conflicts of interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The structures of tocopherol and tocotrienols.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Immunomodulatory effects of vitamin E on immune cells. Abbreviations: PGE2, prostaglandin E2; COX2, Cyclooxygenase 2; NO, Nitric oxide; CD, Clusters of Differentiation; DCs, Dendritic cells; IL-12, Interleukin-12; Ab, antibody; NK, Natural killer.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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