Role of Tocopherol, Selenium and Anti-oxidants in the Rat

Abstract

THE view that α-tocopherol functions solely as a lipid anti-oxidant has long been implicit in the conclusions of many workers (Dam¹ has given a useful summary) and has again been most recently elaborated in the work of Zalkin and Tappel². Other workers, however, have postulated a more specific role for tocopherol in animal tissues. We have already shown^3,4 that α-tocopherol and selenium both control ubiquinone-levels in the rat, and wish briefly to report here some work that provides strong evidence for a specific biochemical function of tocopherol, distinct from that of other lipid anti-oxidants.