Abstract:
Vitamin E is a highly effective fat-soluble vitamin with a variety of cellular membrane stabilizing-antioxidant
and non-antioxidant functions. Vitamin E has been suggested to prevent the oxidation of polyunsaturated fatty
acids in red blood cell (RBC) membrane, thus inhibiting the premature erythrocytelysis. Animal studies have
shown that treatment with vitamin E results in increased number of colony forming units of erythroid
precursors, enhanced erythropoiesis and improved blood hemoglobin levels in these animals. Several clinical
trials have indicated that vitamin E might be used therapeutically as a potential erythropoietic agent for
decreasing the premature erythrocyte hemolysis by reducing the fragility of erythrocytes. By this way, it improves the post-supplemental blood hemoglobin and hematocrit levels in some of the anemic human subjects, including low birth weight premature infants, patients suffering from various types of inherited hemolytic anemia, chronic renal failure patients on hemodialysis and apparently healthy mildly anemic subjects.
