The Effect of Age on Vitamin E Status, Metabolism, and Function: Metabolism as Assessed by Labeled Tocopherols

The effects of age on vitamin E metabolism were studied in 97 healthy 20-75-year-old male nonsmoking Austrian volunteers of the VITAGE project. After a single oral intake of 30 mg d 6 -RRR-α- and d 2 -RRR-γ-tocopheryl acetate, blood and 24-hour urine was collected. Deuterated tocopherols in plasma and deuterated urinary metabolites were analyzed by GC-MS. A first evaluation revealed a similar uptake of d 6 -α- and d2-γ-tocopherol during the first 6 hours, and then d 2 -γ-tocopherol started to decrease. Urinary d 2 -γ-carboxyethyl hydroxychroman metabolites (CEHCs) exceeded those of d 6 -α-CEHCs by about 10 times. There was no effect of age. Thus, there might be no need for a higher vitamin E intake for healthy elderly nonsmoking men.