An interesting study, considering vitamin E’s benefits are thought (by medicine) to be mostly related to its anti-oxidant effects, while the condition chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is thought to be related mostly to external factors such as smoking, air pollution, respiratory infections, etc. Despite the study pushing the anti-oxidant angle, my opinion is that the preventive effects of vitamin E were mostly due to its role as COX and LOX inhibitor, which makes it a powerful anti-inflammatory substance, and COPD is at its core an inflammatory disorder. Now, since COX and LOX produce inflammatory mediators (prostaglandins and leukotrienes, respectively) from PUFA, the findings of the study suggest COPD is yet another PUFA-driven disorder. In addition, estrogen is known to exacerbate (or maybe even cause?) COPD and the anti-estrogenic effects of vitamin E probably also play a role in its preventive effects for this condition. The study did not look into therapeutic effects, but given the animal studies showing COPD alleviation/reversal by vitamin E (through its role as COX inhibitor), it would probably be not too far-fetched to say that vitamin E may also treat established COPD if taken in higher doses for sufficiently long time. Avoidance of PUFA will probably also have the same beneficial effects, on both prevention and treatment.
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2023.1124648/full
“…Findings indicate that vitamin E supplementation may help in preventing COPD, but more research is needed to confirm this, researchers note. The study “Association of Dietary intake of vitamin E with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease events in US adults: A cross-sectional study of NHANES 2013-2018,” was published in Frontiers in Nutrition. ”
“…Results showed the highest intake group had a significantly reduced risk of COPD, by 43%, relative to the lowest intake group. Those on medium levels of vitamin E intake also tended to have a lower COPD risk than those on the lowest levels, but this difference wasn’t statistically significant, which means it’s mathematically plausible it could be random chance. Further statistical analyses, as well as subgroup analyses, all indicated the higher the vitamin E intake, the lower the risk of developing COPD. “The results showed that vitamin E intake among U.S. adults was well below the recommended levels and that higher vitamin E intake was negatively associated with COPD incidence,” the scientists wrote. Based on these findings, vitamin E supplementation might “have an important role in the prevention of COPD,” the team wrote.”
