Benefits
Lower bone resorption markers in postmenopausal women
In a 12-week placebo-controlled trial in 89 postmenopausal women with low bone mass, DeltaGold 70 at 300 or 600 mg/day tocotrienol lowered urinary NTX, a bone resorption marker, plus serum sRANKL and the sRANKL/OPG ratio, and raised the BALP/NTX ratio. OPG and urinary calcium did not change and the doses did not differ. Bone density was not measured. The maker funded the study.
Lower oxidative stress markers versus placebo in two trials
In the 12-week trial in postmenopausal women, urinary 8-OHdG, a marker of oxidative DNA damage, fell with tocotrienol versus placebo. In a placebo-controlled trial of annatto delta-tocotrienol in adults with fatty liver, serum malondialdehyde, a lipid peroxidation marker, fell more than with placebo at 12 and 24 weeks. Both are lab markers, not clinical outcomes.
Lower insulin resistance score versus placebo over 24 weeks
In a placebo-controlled trial in 71 adults with fatty liver given annatto delta-tocotrienol 300 mg twice daily, HOMA-IR, an insulin resistance score and a primary endpoint, fell more than with placebo at 24 weeks (mean difference -0.37). In a later 48-week trial, HOMA-IR improved to a similar degree with delta-tocotrienol and with alpha-tocopherol.
Blood sugar markers in delta-tocotrienol trials of unstated source
Two placebo-controlled trials from one research group, 300 mg/day for 12 weeks in 77 adults with prediabetes and 250 mg/day for 24 weeks in 110 adults with type 2 diabetes on oral glucose-lowering drugs, reported larger falls in fasting glucose, HbA1c, insulin and HOMA-IR than placebo. The abstracts do not name the product source, so these are not confirmed DeltaGold results.
Triglycerides fell more than with placebo over 12 weeks
In the placebo-controlled trial of annatto delta-tocotrienol in 71 adults with fatty liver, triglycerides fell more than with placebo at 12 weeks (-0.24 versus -0.12 mmol/L, p<0.001), a measure outside the trial's stated outcomes; total and LDL cholesterol were not reported. Pooled trials of tocotrienols from any source found no significant change in total or LDL cholesterol.
Lower liver enzymes and liver fat index versus placebo
In a small placebo-controlled pilot trial in 71 adults with fatty liver, annatto delta-tocotrienol 300 mg twice daily lowered ALT, AST and the fatty liver index (a score from body mass index, waist size, triglycerides and GGT) more than placebo at 12 and 24 weeks. Ultrasound fat grade did not differ at 12 weeks and improved more at 24 weeks (p=0.047). Over 48 weeks, liver fat changes matched alpha-tocopherol.
Mechanism of action
Delta- and Gamma-Tocotrienol Forms
Natural vitamin E includes four tocopherols and four tocotrienols, and the body retains alpha-tocopherol preferentially while metabolizing the other forms. A 48-week trial in adults with fatty liver compared delta-tocotrienol with alpha-tocopherol and found similar changes in liver fat and insulin resistance, with larger falls in body weight and some inflammatory markers on delta-tocotrienol.
HMG-CoA Reductase Modulation
Tocotrienols are reported to lower the activity of HMG-CoA reductase, the cholesterol-synthesis enzyme that statins block, through a post-transcriptional route. In people, pooled tocotrienol trials found no significant change in total or LDL cholesterol, so this mechanism has not translated into a demonstrated cholesterol effect.
Inflammation and MicroRNA Markers
In the annatto delta-tocotrienol trial in adults with fatty liver, hs-CRP fell more than with placebo. In a type 2 diabetes trial of delta-tocotrienol of unstated source, hs-CRP, TNF-alpha and IL-6 fell and several circulating microRNAs changed versus placebo. These are blood markers, not clinical outcomes.
Oxidative Stress Markers
In placebo-controlled trials of the annatto material, urinary 8-OHdG and serum malondialdehyde fell more than with placebo. Claims that tocotrienols are stronger antioxidants than tocopherols in people are not established by the studies cited here.
Membrane and Phospholipid Changes
In a serum metabolomics analysis of the postmenopausal trial, 600 mg/day for 12 weeks raised serum tocotrienols and lysophospholipids and lowered acylcarnitines compared with baseline. The authors propose that tocotrienols are built into cell membranes and alter phospholipid metabolism; this is an interpretation, not a measured health outcome.
Clinical trials
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial (NCT02058420) run by Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center; olive oil placebo versus DeltaGold 70 at 430 or 860 mg/day (300 or 600 mg tocotrienol). American River Nutrition supplied the product and funded the study. Safety and quality-of-life results from the same trial appeared in BMC Complement Altern Med in 2018 and a serum metabolomics analysis in Front Nutr in 2021. (Shen et al. 2018, Osteoporos Int)
89 postmenopausal women with osteopenia (mean age 59.7 years); 87 completed.
Versus placebo, urinary NTX, serum sRANKL, the sRANKL/OPG ratio and urinary 8-OHdG (an oxidative DNA damage marker) fell and the BALP/NTX ratio rose; serum BALP fell only marginally, and OPG and urinary calcium did not change. The two doses did not differ. Bone density and fractures were not measured. Safety blood tests (aminotransferases, alkaline phosphatase, bilirubin and kidney markers) did not change, no treatment-related adverse events were reported, and quality of life and physical activity did not differ between groups.
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi, Pakistan (SLCTR/2015/023), with a sucrose placebo; primary endpoints were fatty liver index and HOMA-IR. A 2018 report in Turk J Gastroenterol with the same 35 versus 36 randomization gave 12-week results and named the capsules as annatto extract from American River Nutrition (90% delta, 10% gamma), donated by a US tocotrienol researcher; that report lists funding from the institute and Pakistan's Higher Education Commission. (Pervez et al. 2020, Complement Ther Med)
71 adults with ultrasound-confirmed fatty liver, a fatty liver index of 60 or more and raised ALT; 64 completed the 12-week report.
At 24 weeks, versus placebo, the fatty liver index fell (mean difference -8.52), as did the HOMA-IR insulin resistance score (-0.37), hs-CRP (-0.61), malondialdehyde, a lipid peroxidation marker (-0.91), ALT (-8.86) and AST (-6.6), and ultrasound steatosis grade improved more (p=0.047). In the 12-week report, triglycerides and body weight also fell more than with placebo, but ultrasound grade did not yet differ. No adverse events were reported.
Randomized, double-blind, active-controlled trial with no placebo group (SLCTR/2019/038): delta-tocotrienol 300 mg or alpha-tocopherol 268 mg twice daily. Primary endpoints were fatty liver index, liver-to-spleen attenuation ratio on CT and HOMA-IR; malondialdehyde was a secondary endpoint. A companion microRNA paper from the same trial (Int J Mol Sci 2022) thanks American River Nutrition for the study supplements and reports university funding. (Pervez et al. 2022, Complement Ther Med)
100 adults with fatty liver (50 per group), analyzed by intention to treat.
All three primary endpoints improved from baseline in both groups with no significant difference between them. Body weight, IL-6, TNF-alpha, leptin and cytokeratin-18 fell more, and adiponectin rose more, with delta-tocotrienol. No adverse events were reported. Without a placebo group, the shared improvements cannot be credited to either supplement.