Vitamin E and the immune response

Undernourishment has been suggested to be the most frequent cause of secondary immunodeficiency in man (Chandra et al. 1978) and a practical consequence of this is that nutritional deficiency leads to a significantly increased susceptibility to infection. The association of immune deficiency and protein-energy malnutrition is well described and reviewed (Dowd & Heatley, 1984) and there is now increasing awareness as well as published evidence, that individual nutrients may have a major influence on immune function. The number of individual micronutrients reported to have an influence on immune function is ever increasing and includes the elements, zinc, copper, iron, selenium and magnesium, as well as the vitamins, folic acid, B12, C, B6, A, p-carotene and E. Several of these individual micronutrients will be considered in the present symposium and this communication will examine the evidence in relation to vitamin E.