Sat Aug 24, 2013 (foodconsumer.org) -- Vitamin E may not protect against the damage induced by radiation as at least one study suggests.  But another study published in Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences shows that vitamin E supplemented daily may help prevent liver injury induced by toxic heavy metals including lead, mercury, cadmium and copper.

M. Al-Attar of King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia conducted the study and found mice exposed to heavy metals lead, mercury, cadmium and copper had their liver severely damaged biochemically and histopathologically and vitamin E supplementation helped attenuate the toxicity or the damaging effect of heavy metals.

For the study, male mice drank water with a mixture of heavy metals, lead, mercury, cadmium and copper added for seven weeks.

A series of biochemical changes resulted from exposure to the heavy metals including "increases of blood alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT).

Histopathologically, the liver from heavy metals-treated mice was found severely injured leading to "disarrangement of hepatic strands, rupture in hepatocytes, advanced hepatocellular necrosis, dilation and congestion of blood vessels with hemorrhage, dense lymphocytic infiltration round the central vein and dark stained hepatocytic nuclei indicating cell pycnosis."

However, supplementation of vitamin E at a dose of 50 IU per kg body weight, five times weekly improved the biochemical and histopathological changes induced by heavy metals even though it did not completely prevent the liver from being injured.

The researcher concluded "results of this study suggest that vitamin E protects against the heavy metals-induced liver injury and the attenuating effect of vitamin E may be due to its antioxidant activity." (jimmy downs)