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World J Nephrol. Nov 6, 2013; 2(4): 111-124
Published online Nov 6, 2013. doi: 10.5527/wjn.v2.i4.111
Vitamin E and diabetic nephropathy in mice model and humans
Nakhoul Farid, Dahan Inbal, Nakhoul Nakhoul, Farber Evgeny, Rachel Miller-Lotan, Andrew P Levy, Asleh Rabea
Nakhoul Farid, Dahan Inbal, Farber Evgeny, Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, Baruch-Padeh Poriya Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, Bar-Ilan University, Lower Galilee 15208, Israel
Nakhoul Nakhoul, Ophtalmology Unit, Baruch-Padeh Poriya Medical Center, Lower Galilee 15208, Israel
Rachel Miller-Lotan, Andrew P Levy, Asleh Rabea, The Vascular Biology Lab, the Technion Faculty of Medicine, Haifa 31096, Israel
Author contributions: Farid N, Nakhoul N, Miller-Lotan R designed research; Farid N, Inbal D and Rabea A performed research; Miller-Lotan R contributed new reagents or analytic tools; Evgeny F, Farid N and Levy AP analyzed data; Farid N and Nakhoul N wrote the paper.
Correspondence to: Nakhoul Farid, MD, Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, Baruch-Padeh Poriya Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, Bar Ilan University Galilee, Max ve-Anna Webb, Ramat Gan, Lower Galilee 15208, Israel. fnakhoul@poria.health.gov.il
Telephone: +97-24-6652587 Fax: +97-24-6652587
Received: May 15, 2013
Revised: June 11, 2013
Accepted: October 18, 2013
Published online: November 6, 2013
Processing time: 172 Days and 22.2 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: In diabetes mellitus there is an increase in oxygen radical formation due to glucose auto oxidation, the formation of advanced glycosylation end products, and metabolic stress. Epidemiologic studies suggest that vitamin E supplementation might decrease the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, others showed increased risk of cardiac death with the vitamin E treatment. To the contradictory results in the literature regarding the beneficial role of vitamin E in protecting against cardiovascular complications, high dose vitamin E supplementation has not been recommended by the medical community. In fact, a meta-analysis of over 135000 individuals treated with vitamin E concluded that high dose vitamin E (greater than 400 mg/d) slightly increases the risk of mortality. However, recent investigations into the polymorphic serum protein haptoglobin (Hp) indicate that vitamin E may be beneficial in a genetically defined subgroup of patients, namely, diabetic patients of the Hp 2-2 genotype. The role of Hp as an antioxidant, its importance in diabetes, and the therapeutic role of vitamin E will be discussed in this review.