Detection of blood antioxidant level following treatment with alpha­-tocopherol and delta-tocotrienol in nicotine-injected mice

Vitamin E which consist of tocopherol (TOC) and tocotrienol (TCT) exhibit antioxidative effect that can react with free radicals to prevent oxidative damage. The aim of this this study is to investigate the effect of two different forms of vitamin E which is alpha-tocopherol (α-TOC) and delta-tocotrenol (δ-TCT) on the level of superoxide dismustase (SOD) which is and endogenous antioxidant in nicotine­ injected mice. In this study, the SOD activity in the blood of the mice were measured by using SOD assay kit after 7 days of treatment. The results showed that the group of mice that were treated with a-TOC and δ-TCT have significantly higher SOD activity as compared to the control groups. These may indicate that one of the possible mechanism of antioxidant property of vitamin E is by increasing the level of SOD in the body to reduce oxidative stress.