α-Tocopherol and serum lipoproteins

Twenty-six patients with clinically confirmed mammary dysplasia and five age-matched controls were treated with α-tocopherol, 600 mg/day. Serum samples collected on the 21st day of the menstrual cycle were analyzed for cholesterol in lipoprotein fractions, isolated by a combination of precipitation and ultracentrifugation techniques. Eighty-five percent of patients showed objective and subjective remission from disease following therapy. In mammary dysplasia patients, the ratio of serum cholesterol/high density lipoprotein cholesterol was higher than those in age-matched controls, an abnormality which was corrected by α-tocopherol therapy. Furthermore, as a result of therapy, high density lipoproteins increased and ester cholesterol associated with low density lipoproteins decreased. The results suggest that α-tocopherol may serve as an effective agent in treating patients with benign breast disease, as well as correct the inherent abnormality in serum cholesterol distribution in mammary dysplasia patients. Biochemistry Research Division, Department of Research Medicine.