Reflections on a century of vitamin E research: Looking at the past with an eye on the future

The name vitamin E, was given by Barnett and Sure who suggested that the factor proposed by Evans and Bishop as substance X, be termed vitamin E as the next vitamin after the A, B, C and D vitamins had been already described. The identification of vitamin E with a-tocopherol was made in 1936 by Evans' group. One year later beta-tocopherol and 11 years later delta-tocopherol were isolated. Tocotrienol (named zetatocopherol) was first described in 1957 and later isolated in 1961. The antioxidant property of tocopherols was reported by Olcott and Emerson in 1937. Inherited vitamin E deficiency, AVED, characterized by a form of neuromyopathy was first described in 1981. The disease, was localized to chromosome 8q and found to be caused by a mutation of the aTTP gene. The subsequent paragraphs are not a comprehensive review but only critical reflections on some important aspects of vitamin E research.

Automated summary

Vitamin E, specifically alpha-tocopherol, was identified in the 1930s, followed by the isolation of beta-tocopherol, delta-tocopherol, and tocotrienol in subsequent years. In 1981, inherited vitamin E deficiency causing a neuromyopathy, known as AVED, was localized to chromosome 8q due to a mutation in the aTTP gene.