PMID: 11907952Mar 23, 2002Paper

Vitamin E deficiency. Etiopathogenesis, clinical, histopathologic, and electrical features, and main etiologies

Annales de médecine interne
M FekiA Mebazaa

Abstract

Vitamin E deficiency is frequently observed in human pathology. In most cases, deficiency is moderate and asymptomatic. Severe deficiency is rare and presents as a progressive neurological syndrome including cerebellar ataxia and posterior cord injury. Neuropathological and electrophysiological features confirm spinocerebellar degeneration. The pathophysiology of vitamin E deficiency nervous dysfunction is still unknown. Oxidative alterations due to the lack of the main lipid-soluble antioxidant could be involved. A few causes of vitamin E deficiency are recognized (malnutrition, impaired lipid absorption, specific anomaly of hepatic or intestinal secretion of vitamin E, excessive endogenous consumption), but diseases associated with vitamin E deficiency are numerous and divers. Symptomatic severe deficiency is constantly observed in ataxia with vitamin E deficiency and abetalipoproteinemia. Intestinal, hepatobiliary, and pancreatic diseases are often associated with more or less marked deficiency. Other pathological circumstances such as malnutrition, alcoholism, hemolytic anemia, renal failure and hemodialysis could be associated with moderated and asymptomatic vitamin E deficiency. Oral or regular administration of high-dose...Continue Reading

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Ataxia telangiectasia (MDS)

Ataxia telangiectasia is a rare neurodegenerative diseases caused by defects in the ATM gene, which is involved in DNA damage recognition and repair pathways. Here is the latest research on this autosomal recessive disease.

Ataxias

Ataxia is a neurological condition characterized by lack of voluntary coordination of muscle movements including loss of coordination, balance, and speech. Discover the latest research on different types of ataxias here.