The immune system plays an important role in helping us to remain healthy as the cells of the immune system help us fight and recover from infections and diseases such as cancer, as well as to heal from injuries. Vitamin E tocotrienols have been proven to have anti-cancer effects and provides immune enhancement. Prof. Ammu K. Radhakrishnan, an expert in immunology, answers questions related to the clinical outcomes of palm-derived tocotrienol in its immune-enhancing potential.

1. What are the factors that can cripple our immune system?

Some of the factors that can cripple our immune system include poor nutrition, stress, not having adequate rest and sleep, as well as living a sedentary lifestyle. Nutrition, in particular micronutrients, is a major factor that can affect host immune system. Several clinical studies have shown that supplementation with vitamins (A, C and E) can play an important role in activating the immune response. Fatigue or lack of sleep can also affect the proper functioning of the immune, thus, we must have adequate rest. A sedentary lifestyle will have negative impact on the immune system. Hence, moderate exercise is recommended but very strenuous exercise should be avoided. Stress is not good for the immune system as it can induce production of substances that can have a negative impact on the immune system.

2. How does palm tocotrienols affect the immune system in general?

A clinical study showed that daily consumption of tocotrienol-rich fraction (TRF), which is vitamin E from palm oil enhanced the immune response to tetanus toxoid vaccine. Subjects who were given the TRF supplementation (400 mg daily) had significantly higher levels of antibodies to the vaccine, when compared to placebo. These findings suggest that TRF supplementation improves the immune response to the vaccine, which can increase its protective effect.

3. What is the recommended dosage of palm tocotrienol supplementation that can affect cancer cells?

Recently, we reported that daily supplementation of gamma-tocotrienols (1 mg per day) caused a marked reduction in the number of T-regulatory cells in peripheral blood and tumour microenvironment in tumour-induced mice and this was also accompanied by the promotion of cell-mediated immune responses. It has been proposed that the proportion of T-regulatory can be used to predict the clinical outcome in soft tissue sarcoma, breast cancer and colon cancer patients. Hence, the findings show that tocotrienols can regulate host immune response to produce anti-cancer effects. In addition, we recently also reported that supplementation of gamma-tocotrienols may modulate T-regulatory cells through DNA methylation.

4. Tocotrienols have shown effectiveness in animal studies such as mice, implying that they can help boost the immune system. Does this, however, apply to humans as well?

To date, there are numerous papers in the literature that strongly support the anticancer properties of tocotrienols in various types of human and animal cancer cell lines as well as animal models of cancer. In contrast, there are only a handful of papers reporting on the effects of TRF supplementation on cancer in clinical trials. Hence, there is a need to carry out studies to evaluate the anticancer effects of tocotrienols in clinical trial setting. We have previously reported that it is not possible to observe significant changes to the host immune system following daily TRF supplementation in the absence on an immunological challenge. However, a significant enhancement of immune response to the tetanus toxoid vaccine was observed when healthy volunteers who were supplemented daily with 400 mg of TRF was challenged with a booster dose of tetanus toxoid vaccine. These findings suggest that supplementing daily with TRF can help to ensure that the host immune system remain healthy and will be able to respond readily in the face of an immunological challenge such as a vaccine or infection. .

References: