Abstract
P-selectin, a cell adhesion molecule is elevated in many inflammatory conditions including preeclampsia which is characterized by generalized endothelial dysfunction and vasoconstriction presumably due to free radicals or mediators released by defective placentation. Vitamin E has been documented to protect cell membranes from oxidative damage and also decrease platelet aggregation. The role of vitamin E in pre-eclampsia is contradictory and hence the study was undertaken. Soluble P-selectin was measured by ELISA and Vitamin-E levels in plasma was estimated spectrofluorometrically. In our study the effect of supplementation of 400 IU/day of Vitamin E (a-tocopheryl acetate) to patients of pre-eclampsia showed significant decreased levels of soluble P-selectin by 2nd week as compared to patients given placebo (P = 0.005). In this short period of study no direct correlations were observed between Vitamin E or P-selectin levels with blood pressure as well as with proteinuria. Future studies may focus on the effect of a-tocopheryl acetate or the phosphate form of Vitamin-E, recently proposed to be the more active form on other inflammatory markers like IL-6, an important stimuli of P-selectin release in pre-eclampsia.