Long-chain carboxychromanols, metabolites of vitamin E, are potent inhibitors of cyclooxygenases.

ABSTRACT: Cyclooxygenase (COX-1/COX-2)-catalyzed eicosanoid formation plays a key role in inflammation-associated diseases. Natural forms of vitamin E are recently shown to be metabolized to long-chain carboxychromanols and their sulfated counterparts. Here we find that vitamin E forms differentially inhibit COX-2-catalyzed prostaglandin E(2) in IL-1beta-stimulated A549 cells without affecting COX-2 expression, showing the relative potency of gamma-tocotrienol approximately delta-tocopherol > gamma-tocopherol >> alpha- or beta-tocopherol. The cellular inhibition is partially diminished by sesamin, which blocks the metabolism of vitamin E, suggesting that their metabolites may be inhibitory. Consistently, conditioned media enriched with long-chain carboxychromanols, but not their sulfated counterpart

SUBMITTER: Jiang Q 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2629323 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature