Vitamin E suppositories could treat ulcerative colitis

Vitamin E suppositories may be a potential treatment for ulcerative colitis – a condition which lacks a disease-specific treatment at present, a small study suggests.

Fifteen patients with mild to moderate ulcerative colitis were given rectal d-alpha tocopherol (vitamin E) at a hospital in Tehran, Iran.

After 12 weeks, 14 patients showed a clinical response greater than two on the Mayo clinical disease activity index, with no blood in stool. Nine patients went into remission.

Although this is a small pilot study without controls, the authors suggest that their results show that the effect is better than a placebo.

They say that vitamin E's antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties may account for the result.

World Journal of Gastroenterology (2008) 14: 5990-5995