Vitamin E status in normocholesterolemic and hypercholesterolemic diabetic patients.

The close relationship between vitamin E, lipid and prostaglandin metabolism stresses the need for an accurate definition of the status of vitamin E in a diabetic population. Plasma vitamin E and plasma lipids were determined in 34 type I and 21 type II normocholesterolemic and in 7 hypercholesterolemic diabetics. They were also measured in 62 age- and sex-matched controls, 34 normocholesterolemic controls for type I, 21 normocholesterolemic controls for type II and 7 hypercholesterolemic individuals. Plasma vitamin E levels were not significantly different in type I and type II diabetics as compared to their respective control groups. Vitamin E levels were significantly increased (p less than 0.001) in hypercholesterolemic individuals, both in diabetics and in non-diabetics. The vitamin E/cholesterol ratio in these subjects was, however, not different from that of normocholesterolemic. Plasma vitamin E was correlated with plasma lipids, especially with total and LDL-cholesterol (p less than 0.001). Since vitamin E is mainly transported by plasma lipoproteins, these strong correlations suggest that changes in plasma vitamin E should be considered as an epiphenomenon of altered plasma transport capacity.