Protective effect of vitamin E against ethanol-induced small intestine damage in rats

The role of oxidative stress and inflammatory reaction has been reported in various ethanol-induced
complications. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of ethanol-induced structural
alteration, oxidative stress, and inflammatory reaction on the small intestine of rats, and plausible
protective effect of vitamin E to determine whether it inhibits the abnormality induced by ethanol in the
small intestine. Twenty-four male wistar rats were divided into three groups, namely: Controlã, ethanol,
and vitamin E treated ethanol groups.
After six weeks of treatment, the small intestine length, villus height, crypt depth and muscular layer
thickness, oxidative stress, and inflammatory parameters showed significant changes in the ethanol
treated group compared to the control group. Vitamin E consumption along with ethanol ameliorated
structural alteration of the small intestine and reduced the elevated amount of oxidative stress and
inflammatory markers such as protein carbonyl, OX-LDL, IL-6, Hcy, and TNF-a. Furthermore, their total
antioxidant capacity was increased significantly compared to that of the ethanol group. These findings
indicate that ethanol induces the small intestine abnormality by oxidative and inflammatory stress, and
that these effects can be alleviated by using vitamin E as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory molecule