PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - C. Feldman
AU  - R. Anderson
AU  - A.J. Theron
AU  - H.C. Steel
AU  - C.E.J. van Rensburg
AU  - P.J. Cole
AU  - R. Wilson
TI  - Vitamin E attenuates the injurious effects of bioactive phospholipids on human ciliated epithelium <em>in vitro</em>
AID  - 10.1183/09031936.01.00037401
DP  - 2001 Jul 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - 122--129
VI  - 18
IP  - 1
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/18/1/122.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/18/1/122.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2001 Jul 01; 18
AB  - Bioactive phospholipids (PL), particularly lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC), are being increasingly implicated in the pathogenesis of various acute and chronic inflammatory disorders, particularly those of the airways, while there is emerging evidence that vitamin E may function as a natural antagonist of these lipid mediators of inflammation. The aims of this study were to document the effects of vitamin E on the inhibition of ciliary beating and damage to structural integrity of human ciliated epithelium induced by the PL, platelet-activating factor (PAF), lyso-PAF and LPC in vitro in relation to the anti-oxidative and membrane-stabilizing properties of the vitamin.Ciliary beat frequency was measured by a phototransistor technique, and damage to structural integrity assessed by a visual-scoring index, while superoxide production by polymorphonuclear leukocytes and membrane-stabilizing potential were measured using lucigenin-enhanced chemiluminescence and haemolytic procedures, respectively.All three PL caused inhibition of ciliary beating and structural damage to human ciliated epithelium by membrane-directed cytotoxic mechanisms, which were potentiated by human polymorphonuclear leukocytes due to induction of oxidant-mediated injury. Both direct and phagocyte-inflicted epithelial injury was attenuated by vitamin E. In haemolytic and chemiluminescence assays, vitamin E neutralized both the membrane-destabilizing and pro-oxidative actions of all three PL, while spectrophotometric analysis of mixtures of vitamin E with PAF, lyso-PAF and LPC revealed alterations in peak intensity, as well as peak shifts, indicative of physicochemical interactions between the vitamin and the PL.Vitamin E status may be a determinant of susceptibility to phospholipid-mediated airway inflammation and damage.