Background. Gamma-tocopherol, the most abundant form of dietary vitamin E, may lower the risk of coronary heart disease.

Methods. We investigated whether dietary and adipose tissue gamma-tocopherol are associated with myocardial infarction (MI) in 475 survivors of a first MI and 479 controls from a population-based study carried out between 1994 and 1998 in Costa Rica. Dietary intake was assessed with a validated food-frequency questionnaire and an adipose tissue sample. Conditional logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).

Results. Subjects in the highest quintile of dietary gamma-tocopherol had a lower risk of MI compared with those in the lowest quintile (OR = 0.76; 95% CI = 0.50–1.17, P = 0.02 for trend). This trend was no longer statistically substantial in multivariate analysis (P = 0.44). A weak association was found for adipose tissue gamma-tocopherol in univariate (OR = 1.46; 95% CI = 0.94–2.27) and multivariate (OR = 1.31; 95% CI = 0.62–2.76) models. A substantial inverse association with MI was found for total dietary vitamin E whether supplement users were included or excluded (P = 0.01 and 0.05 for trend, respectively).

Conclusion. These data suggest that gamma-tocopherol does not protect against nonfatal MI.