Tocotrienols, the vitamin E of the 21st century has potential against cancer and other chronic diseases

Researchers at the Cytokine Research Laboratory, Department of Experimental Therapeutics, The University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston state that Vitamin E (the D-Alpha-Tocopherol version) was initially discovered in 1938 as a "fertility factor". Vitamin E now refers to eight different forms that belong to two categories, four saturated analogues called tocopherols and four unsaturated analogues referred to as tocotrienols. The tocopherols have been investigated extensively investigating the tocotrienols is a fairly new frontier. Limited studies point to the molecular and therapeutic targets of the tocotrienols being distinct from those of the tocopherols. For instance, suppression of inflammatory transcription factor NF-kappaB, which is closely linked to cancer growth, and inhibition of HMG-Coenzyme A reductase which improves cholesterol levels is unique to the Tocotrienol family. Tocotrienols have molecular targets that give them beneficial roles in cancer, bone health, diabetes, and cardiovascular and neurological diseases at both preclinical and clinical levels; the evidence is published in the December 1st, 2010 issue of the journal Biochemical Research.