Vitamin E's positive effects often fail to manifest themselves as strongly as expected, but sometimes administering vitamin E actually has detrimental effects. An international team has now found a possible cause for this. It has shown that the effect of vitamin E, which is taken as a tablet or capsule, is not based on the vitamin itself, but rather on the effect of a metabolite. This socalled alpha-carboxychromanol has e. g. a promising anti-inflammatory effect.