Influence of dietary vitamin E on the red cells of ozone-exposed rats

The effect of dietary vitamin E on the susceptibility of red blood cells to ozone exposure was studied in rats. One- and two-month-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a basal vitamin E-deficient diet with or without 45 ppm vitamin E for 4 and 3 months, respectively, and were exposed to 0 or 0.8 ppm ozone continuously for 7 days. Ozone exposure resulted in a significant increase in the activities of glutathione (GSH) peroxidase, pyruvate kinase, and lactate dehydrogenase, and a decrease in GSH level in the red cells of vitamin E-deficient rats, but not in those of the supplemented group. The activities of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, catalase, and superoxide dismutase and levels of thiobarbituric acid reactants, methemoglobin, hemoglobin, and reticulocytes were not significantly altered by ozone exposure or by the nutritional status of vitamin E. The results suggest that depletion of dietary vitamin E renders animals more susceptible to ozone exposure.