Determination of vitamin E in eggs and during the larval development of the sea bass, Dicentrarchus labrax, by high performance liquid chromatography.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are hghly unstable molecular entities whose reactivity is responsible for a variety of damage on biological systems. Such effects include damage of DNA, RNA, protein, and lipid peroxidation. In the protection against the damaging effects of oxygen radicals, vitamin E is of paramount importance in terminating peroxidative chain reactions of unsaturated lipids and therefore protecting membranes from lipid peroxidation. It is well known that levels of ROS increase as the metabolic rate is enhanced. Therefore, the role played by antioxidants is of obvious importance in cells and tissues proliferating fastly like in growing organisms. The purpose of the present study was to assay, by HPLC, the vitamin E content in eggs and larvae at different stages of development of the sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax.