Influence of dietary vitamin E on prostaglandin biosynthesis in rat blood.

Abstract A vitamin E (α-tocopherol) deficient diet stimulated prostaglandin biosynthesis in coagulating rat blood. Prostaglandins were extracted from serum, purified and bioassayed. The identity of prostaglandin E 2 was confirmed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Withholding vitamin E from the diet caused a marked increase in PGE 2 and a lesser increase in PGF 2α production in serum. In rats maintained on diets containing different concentrations of vitamin E, serum concentrations of PGE 2 and PGF 2α were inversely related to serum concentrations of α-tocopherol. These data suggest that in vivo α-tocopherol inhibits the endogenous conversion of arachidonic acid into PGE 2 and PGF 2α . The possibility that α-tocopherol may inhibit the formation of endoperoxide intermediates of PGE 2 and PGF 2α biosynthesis and subsequent induction of platelet aggregation is discussed.