The Effect of Avitaminosis E on the Incorporation of ³⁵S-Sulfate by Rat Tissue Sulfolipids

The relationship between the sulfation of brain and liver sulfolipids was investigated by comparing the fixation of a test dose of ³⁵S-sulfate by the sulfolipid fractions of brain and liver from rats fed vitamin E-deficient and -sufficient diets. Brain and liver tissue was divided into particulate and soluble fractions and the sulfolipid fraction extracted from each with chloroform-methanol. Following purification of the sulfolipid fractions by dialysis, the radioactivity in each fraction was determined by liquid scintillation.

The data obtained showed a statistically significant decrease in ³⁵S-sulfate uptake by the brain particulate sulfolipid in those animals fed a vitamin E-deficient diet. No significant difference was found in the radioactive sulfate uptake by liver particulate sulfolipid between vitamin E-sufficient and -deficient animals. Only traces of radioactivity were found in the soluble fraction of either liver or brain.

The data obtained were interpreted as an indication of a selective rather than a general effect of avitaminosis E. In sulfolipid metabolism it appears that vitamin E functions in the synthesis of new sulfolipid rather than in the sulfation of sulfolipid by exchange. Since those sulfolipids which are the most inert are the membrane sulfolipids, it was suggested that some of the symptoms of avitaminosis E may be a reflection of an alteration in the cerebroside-sulfolipid ratio in the myelin sheath.