Vitamin E Succinate Down Regulates Androgen Activity

Out of prostate research comes some interesting findings about Vitamin E Succinate that could have possible implications for male pattern loss, which is largely mediated by the same hormonal factors implicated in prostate enlargement and prostate cancer. It was only the succinate version of vitamin E that produced these specific effects, which is inexpensive and widely available. A study published in the May 28 2002 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences(https://www.pnas.org/ ) has revealed previously unknown mechanisms of action for vitamin E succinate against prostate cancer. Vitamin E had been associated with a lower incidence of prostate cancer in epidemiologic studies and the succinate form of the vitamin has been shown to inhibit cancer growth in several studies.
      The University of Rochester researchers used an androgen-dependent human prostate cancer cell line to find out how vitamin E succinate prevents and combats cancer. In one experiment, vitamin E succinate was compared to the antiandrogen drug flutamide. While the addition of flutamide largely failed to combat growth stimulated by the addition of the androgen dihydrotestosterone (DHT), vitamin E succinate proved to be successful. However, when both compounds were added, a further repressing of DHT-mediated cell growth was observed. When tumor cells were replaced with cell cultures from normal prostate tissue, the same amount of vitamin E succinate only slightly inhibited cell growth, suggesting that the vitamin may selectively inhibit tumor cells that are androgen sensitive.
      In another experiment that sought to determine the effect of vitamin E succinate on prostate specific antigen (PSA), a marker for prostate cancer, PSA expression was induced by the addition of DHT to the cell culture. When vitamin E was added, intracellular and secreted levels of PSA expression were repressed. This occurred together with down-regulation of androgen receptor protein levels. The androgen receptor is required for the initiation and progression of prostate cancer and Male Pattern Hair Loss. The authors write that vitamin E succinate may suppress the growth of prostate cancer and the expression of PSA “by inhibiting androgen receptor expression at both the transcription and translation levels.” An oral dose of 800 i.u.’s would be appropriate to produce these effects.