Vitamin E level changes in serum and red blood cells due to acute exhaustive exercise in collegiate women

The purpose of this study was to investigate the change in vitamin E level in bull serum and red blood cells (RBC) during exercise and to clarify the effect of vitamin E supplementation. Ten young sedentary female subjects re ceived 200 mg D-alpha-tocopherol acetate daily for 1 wk after the initial e xercise bout, After 1 wk of vitamin E supplementation, the same subjects re peated the same exercise. Before vitamin E supplementation, the alpha-tocop herol level in the serum (serum-alpha-tocopherol) did not change after exer cise, but a significant decrease in the alpha-tocopherol level in RBC (RBC- alpha-tocopherol) was observed after exercise (p<0.05). On the other hand, after vitamin E supplementation, the serum-alpha-tocopherol level decreased significantly after exercise (p<0.05), while the RBC-alpha-tocopherol leve l was maintained after exercise. Furthermore, a negative correlation betwee n the changes in serum- and RBC-alpha-tocopherol levels was observed only a fter vitamin E supplementation (r=0.667, p<0.05). The present results sugge st that as RBC suffers oxidative stress, vitamin E in RBC is consumed to pr otect RBC from oxidative damage during exercise. These results also suggest that when there is a sufficient amount of Vitamin E in the serum, vitamin E is shifted from the serum to RBC, resulting in a steady RBC-alpha-tocophe rol level and a decrease in the serum-alpha-tocopherol level under oxidativ e stress such as exercise.