Volume 90, Issue 1, July (2003), pp. 3-11 © The Author 2003
doi:10.1079/BJN2003870

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Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 involvement in the α-tocopherol-induced reduction of atherosclerotic lesions in apolipoprotein E knockout mice

Maria C. G. Peluzio³, Emir Miguel Jr¹, Thaís C. Drumond¹, Giovana C. César¹, Helton C. Santiago¹, Mauro M. Teixeira¹, Enio C. Vieira¹, Rosa M. E. Arantes², Jacqueline I. Alvarez-Leite^1
1Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia and
²Departamento de Patologia Geral, ICB, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Caixa Postal 486, 30 161-970, Belo Horizonte, –MG, , Brazil
³Departamento de Nutrição e Saúde, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Av PH Rolls s/n. 36570-000, Brazil

 (Received 12 April 2002–Revised 31 January 2003–Accepted 21 February 2003)

We studied the effects of α-tocopheryl acetate supplementation on the development of fatty streaks and its ability to modulate the expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1 in aortic lesions of apoliprotein E knockout mice. For this purpose, 16-week-old apolipoprotein E knockout mice received α-tocopherol supplemention (800 mg)/kg diet) for 6 weeks. After this time, total and lipoprotein cholesterol in the serum, hepatic tocopherol, aortic lesion area and MCP-1 (protein and mRNA) expression were analysed. Our present results showed that the dietary supplementation with α-tocopherol did not reduce serum cholesterol nor change lipoprotein profile, but it reduced the area of the aortic lesion by 55 %. The reduction in the lesion size was correlated with the reduced expression of MCP-1 mRNA and protein, as detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry respectively. In conclusion, the results obtained here are relevant to the study of atherosclerosis, as they correlate the effectiveness of vitamin E supplementation in inhibiting the plaque formation with diminished expression of MCP-1 at the aortic lesion.

Keywords:
Atherosclerosis, Apolipoprotein E knockout mice, α-Tocopherol, Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, Antioxidant

Abbreviations:
Apo, apolipoprotein, CT, control, MCP, monocyte chemoattractant protein, PCR, polymerase chain reaction, TOH, α-tocopherol