Tocols As Radiation Countermeasures

Tocopherols and tocotrienols collectively known as vitamin E (vit-E) or tocols are important dietery nutrient because of their remarkable biological activities including antioxidant activity, neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory properties.

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The daily requirement for vit-E is 15mg for an adult and can be obtained naturally from nuts (almonds, peanuts and hazelnuts and oils mainly soybean, safflower and wheatgerm oil or from vit-E fortified diets. (source: U.S. National Library of Medicine). Vit-E was first discovered in 1922 by Bishop and Evans, isolated in 1935 and first synthesized in 1938. Vit- E was named as tocopherol - a Greek word which means birth or to carry as its activity was first time found essential for the fertilized eggs in live births in rats. Vit- E has been shown to be very effective against cellular oxidative damage that has been linked to the basis of various diseases and disorders, including cancer, ageing, arthritis and cataracts. Apart from the significant role of natural vit- E in various biological processess, tocols are also well recognized for their significant role as radiation countermeasures not only by scavenging free radicals generated through irradiation, but also through inducing high levels of cytokines and chemokines (Cytokines/chemokines are cell signalling molecules which play vital role in various immune responses in our body) and by suppressing chronic radiation- induced fibrosis in some organ systems. Considering the extensive use of ionizing radiation in various clinical and nonclinical fields which include diagnostic purposes (exposure to X-ray,various diagnostic machines and instruments), cancer treatment, radiations generated through nuclear energy production, engineering and construction. (building materials like sandstone, concrete, gypsum, granite etc release low levels of radiations as they contain naturally occurring radioactive elements like uranium,thorium and radium), and sterilization of food products by γ rays mainly has promoted for identification, developement and investigating the effective and promising radiation countermeasures. An effective radiation countermeasures should be safe, stable, easy to administer, and have good bioavailab